Safety concerns at prison in Wellingborough holding sex offenders

When HMP Five Wells opened in 2022 it was hailed as the UK’s first “smart” prison, yet the facility’s remit has changed and it now holds one of the highest numbers of sex offenders in Europe. What has this meant for the prison?

Corinna is worried about her partner Sam, who is serving a sentence for a financial crime at the Category C male resettlement prison in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

She says when some sex offenders started to be housed with the general inmate population, Sam spiralled into a depression.

“Shortly after my partner entered [HMP Five Wells], they came up with this scheme to integrate every part of the prison with monsters, the worst of the worst,” Corinna says.

“The main prisoners 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.

“A child rapist was moved off Sam’s wing this week because he was bragging and about to get his head kicked in.”

Corinna says her partner has put in six transfer requests, which have all been declined.

“He was abused as a child, so for him it’s a massive struggle to live among the very people who hurt him – he’s so withdrawn, he’s depressed.”

As HMP Five Wells is now an integrated prison, sex offenders may be present when the families of other inmates visit the facility.

“It makes my skin crawl,” Corinna says.

“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.”

BBC Investigations has spoken to several former inmates or the loved ones of serving prisoners at HMP Five Wells, who have echoed Corrina’s claims. The BBC has not used the real names of those interviewed.

Jake was recently released after serving a sentence for sharing indecent images.

He says attacks on sex offenders and bullying was commonplace.

“When I left, the prison was 80% sex offenders and soon it is going to be 100%.

“There are people getting slashed, getting beat up, they’re getting violated sexually. The screws are doing nothing about it. A lot of it was in front of everyone.”

Jake says he spent all day locked in his cell and began using spice, a psychoactive substance, which was sprayed onto sheets of paper and slid under the door.

“It’s a time-killer, you’re just out of it. I was doing it 24/7.

“I spent probably £6,000 in five months – it’s easier to get than food and drink. I came out worse than when I went in,” Jake says.

In 2022 only one of the seven housing blocks at the facility was used to hold sex offenders, but by March 1,206 out of 1,717 inmates had been convicted of a sex crime, according to Ministry of Justice data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The figure is nearly the same number as HMP Littlehey in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, which is Europe’s largest prison housing sex offenders.

Since the integration in 2024, there has been a rise in violence and self-harm.

Figures published by the Ministry of Justice show assaults increased by nearly 75% in 2024 compared to 11% nationally.

Prisoner-on-prisoner attacks rose from 215 in 2023 to 375 last year and self-harm incidents also jumped from 1,289 to 2,069.

A slightly reduced prison population in 2023 could account in part for the disparity.

Maria told us her son, who is serving his sentence at HMP Five Wells for burglary, has never felt so unsafe.

“What really worries me is the self-harming – they’ve got him so low that he’s cutting himself and he’s never done that before.

“He’s on to the drugs – you can get anything: weed, spice. Even if you don’t want it, it’s pushed under the doors and then you owe them and they won’t take it back.”

When HMP Five Wells opened the then-Conservative government said the “smart” prison’s workshop spaces, classrooms and drug-recovery wings would help prisoners “find work immediately” after their release.

The facility rewards well-behaved prisoners by moving them to live in another level in the prison with “enhanced” privileges.

But Maria’s son says the system does not work.

“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.

“I don’t think the prison is living up to its ambitions – why aren’t they rehabilitating people? I think it’s a lack of resources and skilled officers,” Maria says.

Three inmates have died in custody at HMP Five Wells since December.

Kevin Golby, 49, was found dead in his cell on 10 December, one day after being assaulted, and Reece Pryce, 23, died on Christmas Day – the cause of his death is still being investigated.

The BBC has also seen videos recorded on prisoners’ mobile phones, which show fist fights and drug taking inside the jail.

In another video, a shirtless prisoner is cheered as he parades about on a roof.

G4S, the company which runs the prison, says the incidents in the videos happened in 2023 and were dealt with appropriately.

A progress report by HM’s Inspectorate of Prisons, following an inspection in November 2024, found self-harm was “the highest for similar prisons”, and the impact of integration had caused “anxiety” amongst inmates, with reports of bullying.

However, it says progress had been made at the facility in relation to leadership, purposeful activity and staff-prisoner relationships.

A spokesperson for G4S says: “We continue to respond to population pressures and received prisoners as required. We have always held men convicted of sexual offences.”

The company told the BBC it did not recognise Sam’s claims about his personal difficulties and “the safety of prisoners was a priority”. It added privileges were “applied fairly and based solely on the behaviour of prisoners”.

G4S says “in common with other prisons, drugs remained a challenge”, but it followed all national prison policy and the safety of visitors was a priority.