Built from recycled materials, it was lauded as the £253 million ‘prison of the future’ with inmates called ‘residents’, student-hall style rooms with en-suites and no bars on windows.
But an investigation into HMP Five Wells dubbed ‘HMP Woke‘ has revealed that the three-year-old state-of-the-art jail has been overrun by violent rapists and child abusers – who are preying on the white collar criminals they vastly outnumber.
While sex offenders are usually segregated from the general prison population because they’re the ones at risk of violence, HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough – where 1,206 of the the 1,717 inmates are there for sex crimes – has implemented a scheme to integrate inmates in all parts of the prison.
One former inmate told the BBC that since the integration, and the increase in the number of sex offenders at the Northamptonshire jail, which housed just one block in 2017, conditions have deteriorated rapidly.
The sayd: ‘There are people getting slashed, getting beat up, they’re getting violated sexually,’ one former inmate claimed.
‘The screws are doing nothing about it. A lot of it was in front of everyone.’
Another said that the rest of the prisoners – some 500 inmates – had to ‘sign a contract agreeing not to harass or intimidate them, but some of the men are turning to drugs because they can’t bear it.’.
Accounts from inmates’ families reveal they are terrified of bringing their children into a prison with one woman whose partner is serving a sentence for financial crime – says taking her daughter along to visits makes her ‘skin crawl’.
‘I take my daughter up there and rather than enjoying my visit I’m looking at which prisoners are staring at her, standing less than a metre away,’ she said, adding that there was a child rapist on her partner’s wing who had just been moved.
Costing £253million to build, HMP Five Wells (pictured in aerial photograph) is the UK’s first privately run mega prison in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
The jail is seen as a flagship example of the Government’s aim to create a ‘modern, efficient prison estate’ (Pictured: Bright and spacious room for inmate)
It does not have bars across its windows, and provides prisoners with access to a gym, snooker table, table tennis table and a tablet to gain new qualifications
Michael Thurman (left) wrote a glowing review of the premises for prison magazine Inside Time. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for abusing a young girl. Right: pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing a child to watch/look at an image of sexual activity and breaching his Sexual Harm Protection Order
Her partner – who was abused as a child – has plunged into a depression since rapists and sex abusers were moved in with the general prison population, but his six transfer requests have been refused.
Others have spoken about turning to drugs such as spice to cope, while one mother said that her son, who is serving a sentence at the private prison for burglary, has spiraled into a dangerous depression and is self-harming.
She said that he’s cutting himself, which he’s never done before, and is taking weed and spice.
‘He says he can’t get a job because all the jobs are being given to the [sex offenders], who get the easy life and the privileges,’ she said.
Sex offender inmates at the prison have included Michael Thurman, in his 80s, who wrote a glowing review of the premises for prison magazine Inside Time, likening it to a 5-star establishment.
Thurman, who was jailed for sex attacks on a five-year-old girl, said that he was grateful he’d been transferred there and approved of guards and prison officers using each others first names as a mark of ‘respect’.
‘The cells have ample room, but are slightly lacking in shelves,’ he said. ‘At last I am in a prison where, as a form of respect, the guards use our Christian names and told us theirs.’
Meanwhile, James Dyer, 37, was sentenced to a further 18 months in prison at HMP Five Wells during a hearing at Reading Crown Court.
Built from recycled materials and using solar panels to reduce its carbon footprint, the lock-up will have a clear focus on rehabilitating offenders (Pictured: Multi-use games area)
The prison offers light and airy rooms (pictured) that wouldn’t look out of place in a university halls brochure
Dyar pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing a child to watch/look at an image of sexual activity and breaching his Sexual Harm Protection Order.
Opened in 2022 Category C male prison, HMP Five Wells looked more like a modern university halls of residence than any prison.
Based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, the flagship estate features a gym, a snooker table and table tennis table as well as bar-less sliding windows.
Built from recycled materials and using solar panels for some of its energy to reduce its carbon footprint, it also boasts gorgeous lakeside views, free use of football pitches and beautiful landscaped gardens.
Inmates also have access to a gym, snooker table, table tennis table and a tablet to gain new qualifications.
The privately run facility was founded on principles of rehabilitation rather than punishment but immediately divided opinion with critics on social media comparing it to a five-star hotel and accusing the-then Conservative Government of going soft.
Former Justice Secretary Dominic Raab defended the flagship facility insisting that this enhanced focus on rehabilitation would ‘drive down offending’.
During a visit to the luxury prison Mr Raab explained: ‘I’m interested in punishment, because that’s what the public expect, but I’m not really interested in stigmatising in a way that’s counter-productive to my aim of driving down re-offending.
The clip appears to show inmates downing shots at a party at HMP Five Wells
The smiling inmates filmed themselves gathered in a cell enjoying what appears to be a party
Brazen videos taken inside the prison and posted on social media also showed convicts climbing on the prison roof topless
One prisoner is seen on a TikTok video smoking what appears to be either weed or spice
Another clip shows a prisoner on the floor covered in a white powdery substance and milk as a fellow inmate shouts about how he has had ‘too much spice today’
‘The question is, what is the best way to drive down the offending – and it’s a combination of making that cell secure, which those new windows do, and also trying to get an offender, particularly one that might have had a persistent, longstanding set of problems and track record of offending, to think of things a different way.’
But quickly Britain’s cushiest jail deteriorated into chaos.
By October 2023 frightened prison officers revealed how inmates were running rampant, smuggling in contraband and throwing boozey, drug-fuelled cell parties.
They claimed that inmates regularly hurled sexual taunts at female staff and would attack other prisoners with makeshift knives.
One female officer – who spoke anonymously – warned that a lack of staffing meant it was common for one female officer to be alone with 60 men.
She added: ‘We get urine and faeces thrown in our face. We get spat at. We get things thrown at us.
‘An officer got stabbed a few weeks ago. We get punched, kicked, tripped up, hit with pool cues. Something like that happens on a daily basis.’
Another whistleblowing prison officer warned that G4S was not providing staff with adequate equipment like radios, bodycams and alarm buttons.
He told Sky News: ‘The prisoners run the prison. If things don’t change, someone is going to get killed.’
Brazen videos taken inside the prison and posted on social media also showed convicts climbing on the prison roof topless and dancing in their cells.
In one especially shocking clip, a group of at least four carefree prisoners were filmed appearing to take a shot of alcohol while also biting on a lemon wedge and licking salt off the back of their hands.
But reality came crashing down after an inspectorate report ranked them the lowest possible grade for security
Incarcerated criminals seen gathered around enjoying drinks while they sing and party in their cell
They also appeared to smoke cannabis.
Responding to the footage at the time, a spokesperson for G4S told MailOnline: ‘Our dedicated staff work tirelessly to detect, intercept and confiscate contraband. Anyone found with a mobile phone, drugs or alcohol in prison is breaking the law and may face extra time behind bars.’
Meanwhile violence and self-harm amongst convicts has also skyrocketed.
Assaults at HMP Five Wells have increased by 75 per cent compared with a national average of around 11 per cent.
Prisoner-on-prisoner attacks rose from 215 in 2023 to 375 last year and self-harm incidents jumped from 1,289 to 2,069 recorded cases.
Three inmates have died in HMP Five Wells since December including Kevin Golby, 49, who was found dead in his cell one day after being assaulted, and Reece Pryce, 23, who died on Christmas day.
Shocking testimony from former inmates of HMP Five Wells, suggest that violence, self-harm and drug use has become rife amongst inmates since more sex offenders have moved onto the general wards prison.
When the prison was first established in 2022 just one of the seven housing blocks was used to hold sex offenders.
But data from March reveals that 1,206 out of 1,717 inmates – or just over 70 per cent of all prisoners on the estate – had been convicted of a sex crime, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Responding to the allegations, a spokesperson for G4S said: ‘We continue to respond to population pressures and receive prisoners as required.
‘We have always held men convicted of sexual offences.’
The company added: ‘In common with other prisons, drugs remained a challenge’.
