Video showing prison guard having sex with inmate could be the final nail in the coffin of HMP Wandsworth

Author: Sam Lawley

18:04 June 29, 2024, updated 19:11 June 29, 2024

• Woman arrested today over graphic video of uniformed guard performing sex act
• A May report found that 44 percent of inmates tested positive for drugs
• Did you witness the chaos in Wandsworth? Email [email protected]

One of the UK’s oldest and most famous prisons, HMP Wandsworth is now infamous for high-profile “escapes”, rat infestations and gruesome sexual relationships between staff and inmates.

In the latest horrific incident that led to a woman’s arrest, a guard performed a sex act on an unidentified inmate at a Category A prison in southwest London.

The footage then shows a woman, revealed by MailOnline as a swinger named Linda De Sousa Abreu, having sex with the prisoner while his cellmate films on a mobile phone.

However, the video is simply the latest in a long string of sagas that have plagued the prison and led to calls for the “crumbling, overcrowded and verminous” prison to revamp its safety and security measures.

Last month, a devastating review by Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor exposed the grim realities of life at HMP Wandsworth, where more than 1,500 men spend up to 22 hours a day in cramped, rat-infested cells, many high on drugs and feeling hopeless and desperate.

After entering a prison where seven prisoners took their own lives last year alone, Taylor issued an “urgent notice” to ministers, warning of the “ever-present risk” of a “catastrophe”.

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The chaos at the Category A prison reached public consciousness long before the most recent sordid story, when suspected terrorist Daniel Khalife escaped from prison last year.

The inmate was reported to have strapped himself to the underside of a Bidfood delivery van using makeshift harnesses made from prison sheets.

The former British Army soldier was originally arrested in January on terrorism charges after planning a hoax bomb at his military barracks in MoD Stafford. He is also accused of spying for an enemy state believed to be Iran.

Khalife, who will go on trial later this year, denies single charges of escape, committing an act against the state, obtaining information about members of the armed forces and committing a bomb hoax.

Although reports of the soldier’s escape made headlines, Mr Taylor was surprised to find that security had not improved since the incident.

Ian Acheson, former head of security at HMP Wandsworth and author of Screwed: Britain’s Prison Crisis and How To Escape It, said the inspections revealed a prison where staff had lost control.

“When we ran Wandsworth we had an adequate number of experienced staff who had a clear environmental responsibility,” he told MailOnline.

“It wasn’t an ideal place by any means, but there were a lot fewer attacks on prisoners and a lot less suicide, self-harm and despair. One of the main reasons things fell apart is overcrowding and a lack of experienced staff.

“Incarceration levels have fallen even further since the Charlie Taylor report two years ago – even after the escape of someone considered a threat to national security.

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“The staff have no idea where the people they’ve unlocked are – where people have escaped from. It’s an absolute mess that should stop at the Prison Service headquarters.”

Security is not the only issue plaguing the prison, which was built more than 170 years ago and has housed many famous inmates, from Oscar Wilde to recently bankrupt tennis star Boris Becker.

Tales of squalid conditions, including rat-infested cells with “crumbling” walls, prompted Taylor to describe the atmosphere among prisoners as “characterised by a despondency I have never encountered during my time as Chief Inspector”.

During an unannounced visit last month, he found that 80 percent of prisoners shared single-occupancy cells, 44 percent tested positive for drugs and some had not showered for five days.

Violence remains a serious problem at the prison, with more than 10 attacks on staff every week. The prison population, which was 1,364 two years ago, rose to 1,513 last month.

The “bathtub” – as prisoners call it – is where former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker spent the first weeks after being imprisoned for concealing £2.5m of assets and loans in connection with a bankruptcy fraud.

Becker, who was later transferred to Huntercombe Prison in Oxfordshire, said being a famous tennis player meant nothing in a place where he was surrounded by “murderers, drug dealers, rapists, people smugglers and dangerous criminals”.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast: “Every day you are fighting to survive. Quick, you need to surround yourself with tough guys, as I would call them, because you need protection.

The brutal realities of life in prison have been revealed by former prisoner Chris Atkins in a book published in The Mail on Sunday series.

Meanwhile, Vanessa Frake, who wrote an article about her time in prison for The Governor, told MailOnline: “Wandsworth used to be a great prison but now it is notorious for high-profile escapes, vermin infestations, violence and even sewage leaks!”

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“My sympathy goes to the many hard-working workers behind these walls.”

But this time a staff member has sparked a fresh storm over prison standards by recording a video of a female guard having sex with an inmate, the latest sign of the chaos outside the prison gates.

Following the police’s arrest yesterday, the suspect is currently in custody on suspicion of misconduct while performing public functions.

The depraved clip also highlights the availability of drugs in prison, which was highlighted in a report last month in which the man recording the act smokes a joint and boasts about the freedom inmates enjoy despite being behind bars.

A friend jokes, “Guys, we made history, is what I’m telling you.”

The officer’s radio, left on the side table, crackles constantly, and her colleagues can hear it on other channels over the noise of other prisoners on the landing, unaware of what is happening in the cell.

At one point you can see someone trying to enter the cell, at which point the man filming can be heard saying to the person on the other side of the door: “Give me a minute, a second.”

The prisoner filming tells his friend to continue, then turns the camera the other way for a moment and, smiling, says: “This is what our job is like in Wandsworth.”

Then he says to his friend having sex, “You know you’re a gangster, right?”

Yesterday, MailOnline revealed that the woman in the footage is De Sousa Abreu, who, along with her husband Nathan Richardson, now 29, were the stars of Channel 4’s Open House: The Great Sex Experiment, which saw couples push the boundaries of relationships in a luxury country retreat resort.

The Brazilian model spared no effort to take part in a 15-person orgy with other participants during the program.

The couple also boasts an OnlyFans account under the pseudonym Linda La Madre, which charges $10 a month for racist content featuring her and her husband.

The then personal trainer from Fulham explained in the Channel 4 documentary: “Monogamy is a social construct that I believe needs to be broken down.

“Opening up our relationships allowed us to connect with each other on a deeper level.”

In response, Ms Frake called the footage “shocking” and told MailOnline: “This is what is totally wrong with the prison service today!

“This woman disgraces not only herself, but also the uniform and the Prison Service.”

Will a vulgar, viral video be the final straw for this vermin-infested, lawless establishment? Taylor’s report makes it clear that the facility is in need of a makeover that goes beyond its recent round of “modernizations.”

In his letter to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, the inspector said: “The poor outcomes we have seen at Wandsworth are systemic and cultural failures and are the result of poor leadership at every level of the prison, from HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice.

“Many well-disposed and hard-working leaders and staff have persevered at Wandsworth and their resilience has been impressive, but they have often had to grapple with a wave of cross-cutting, intractable issues that require comprehensive, long-term solutions.

“For this troubled prison to begin its recovery, Wandsworth needs ongoing, experienced leadership at all levels who invest in its long-term future to improve safety and security and support their less experienced colleagues.

“Until that happens, there is always the risk of another disaster, self-harm, or escape from lawful custody.”

Prisons Minister Edward Argar said the “deeply disturbing report” showed the prison continued to face “significant challenges” and that it was “clear that in addition to the additional support we have provided since September to improve security, including modernization with worth almost £1 million, we need to do even more.”

He added that additional experienced staff would be added to the prison management team in the coming weeks to provide the “leadership, culture change and training necessary to improve the situation at Wandsworth”, adding: “In the meantime, we are deploying more staff to the prison, including prison officers, and will outline further action shortly.”