The Government is facing a call from an MP to cancel a billion pound contract it has with Sodexo to run Salford's troubled Forest Bank prison following an M.E.N. investigation into the jail.
The claims we have uncovered have resulted in calls from Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey to cancel Sodexo's contract and bring the prison into state control. The MP said our investigation, based on allegations from a whistleblower, an ex-prisoner and his father and the family of a grandfather who died in his cell, exposed a 'culture of lawlessness' at the jail.
The allegations paint a disturbing picture. We have been told that:
- Drugs are rife, smuggled in via 'legal letters' and inmates are 'off their tits a lot of the time'
- Inmates brew their own hooch
- Violence is commonplace and inmates 'run the wings'
- Staff feel 'unsafe' and a lone guard can be 'left to guard 100-plus inmates'
- Staff have to buy 'their own uniform because of cost-cutting'
- A desperate father paid off a drug dealer on his addict son's wing because 'staff didn't protect him'
Sodexo's contract to run the prison ends on January 19, 2025. Back in 1998, it was awarded a deal worth £1,006,771,964 to design, build and run the prison built on the site of the former Agecroft power station under a private finance initiative to house a maximum 1,064 inmates. The deal was to last 25 years, before being extended.
The facilities management giant, founded and based in France, runs six prisons in England and Scotland, and last year recorded revenues of 21.1 billion euros, including 'underlying operating profit' of more than a billion euros, up 83 per cent.
Over the years, the Manchester Evening News has consistently reported on issues at the prison; including how the prison vowed to crackdown on the use of smuggled phones in the prison after we reported how prisoners captured shocking acts of drug-fuelled cruelty inside the prison in 2016, including inmates pretending to be fighting dogs.. A guard resigned in the same year after he was caught watching porn on a wing computer. We also reported how a prison officer was jailed for smuggling spice into the prison and two other guards were imprisoned for stealing electronics from the prison workshop, both in 2021, and how inmates used illicit phones to shoot a rap video earlier this year.
And, in May last year, a damning report by the chief inspector of prisons concluded the jail was 'unable to fulfil its role successfully' following an unannounced visit three months earlier.
The scathing conclusion came despite the Ministry of Justice slapping the prison with a 45-day improvement notice the previous year. But the troubles at Forest Bank haven't put the government off rewarding Sodexo. Although no decision has been made on any new contract at Forest Bank, Sodexo will take over from G4S to run HMP Altcourse in Merseyside in June on a ten-year deal worth £260m.
Management have previously said the prison was making 'steady progress' in the wake of the inspectorate report - but our investigation lays bare serious concerns.
'Prisoners do almost anything they want!'
A whistleblower at the prison, a current guard, told the M.E.N: "Managers don’t have control over staff and staff definitely don’t have control of prisoners."
He said that wings that house vulnerable inmates such as sex offenders were 'calm and quite relaxed' - but attempts to control behaviour on the main wings was 'futile', the officer said.
"Prisoners are able to do almost anything they want because the staff either don’t care, aren’t experienced enough or just simply want an easy life," they said.
We have previously reported how inmates have dealt drugs behind bars, used illicit phones to make calls and shoot rap videos.
They hire the wrong people for the job which in turn means that no one stays in the job, which then in turn means the most experienced staff members get promotions quicker not because they’re a great candidate for that job, not because they’re capable or hardworking or responsible enough for the job, but simply because everyone else has left... It’s pretty much the blind leading the blind."
They said the atmosphere on the main wings is 'horrific', with a toxic atmosphere between some staff and some managers.
The guard continued: "I don’t blame the prisoners either for that. Why would you behave if there’s a rotating door of staff? You don’t build up a bond with any staff resulting in there being a huge divide. Why try and build a bond or try and rely on staff when next week it’ll be different staff?
"Why tell staff your issues or behave when you can get away with it as that staff member will leave before they put a complaint in against you? The inmates definitely run certain parts of the prison."
The guard said while some drugs were intercepted, plenty of narcotics came into Forest Bank, particularly via 'throw overs'. Drugs were thrown into the yard in parcels, often on fire so it can burn through security netting before being retrieved by inmates, said the guard. Decoy parcels are also said to be hurled over the prison wall.
Staff were expected to retrieve all parcels but it was often too dangerous and 'unrealistic', they said.
The guard estimated staff had to deal with two acts of violence each day and said guards weren't equipped with batons and pepper spray as they are at other jails.
"We have handcuffs, a radio and a set of keys. No personal protection at all. No pepper spray, no baton, just our fists and our mouths to try and de- escalate a situation," said the guard, who alleged managers encouraged staff not to report less serious incidents.
The guard said the prison was 'beyond saving' although it would fare better if it was run by the state rather than Sodexo.
They said: "Sodexo cut corners all the time. I understand that running a business is about making profit and cutting corners is a large part of this but is cutting corners on staff protection and necessities the best corners to be cutting?"
Staff weren't provided with enough uniform so they end up buying M&S trousers and white shirts from Asda, it was alleged.
A wing of more than 100 inmates was supposed to be manned by three staff but the guard said in practice it was two or sometimes just one.
They said: "I have never ever worked a shift in two years with three officers on a wing. I have been expected to work a wing on my own. I have been expected to rely on the cleaners on the wing to protect me if anything goes wrong. I have been expected to have 110 lads out on a wing with only me watching over them. This simply is not realistic. I’m completely outnumbered and it’s extremely unsafe."
With just one member of staff manning a wing, it can become 'hostile' particularly if that member of staff is inexperienced and didn't understand 'who's a big timer, who's a loose cannon, who's previously hurt who or what their routine is', it was alleged.
"You’ve lost control from the get go. You’d think in those cases managers would come down to floor level to help out. They simply don’t," said the guard.
The comments chimed with what the chief inspector of prisons said in his 2022 report, namely that 'leaders show limited ambition to improve the situation', that prison staff were 'disillusioned' and officer retention rates poor. Managers had promised to provide three officers in each unit to improve supervision and control 'but in reality, this had been difficult to achieve', said the report. The watchdog found units were 'understaffed most days' and of those in post a quarter had less than one year of experience.
The M.E.N. asked Sodexo to respond to the whistleblower's allegations, including that managers have lost control of staff and staff have lost control of the prison; that prisoners 'do almost anything they want' because staff don't care or aren't sufficiently experienced and are not supported by managers;' that staff turnover is high affecting the way inmates are managed and that incapable people are promoted into management roles; that inmates 'run' the main wings; that it was 'unrealistic' and dangerous for staff to collect drugs thrown into the yard; that staff were not equipped with batons or pepper spray as they are at other jails; that staff had to rely on 'our fists and mouths to de-escalate a situation'; that managers encouraged staff not to report less serious incidents; that the prison would be better off being run by the state rather than Sodexo who 'cut corners all the time'; that staff are not provided enough uniform and sometimes had to purchase their own shirts and trousers; that the main wings could be manned by just one guard and that managers don't help out at key times.
An HMP Forest Bank spokesperson said: "HMP Forest Bank effectively services the needs of the Greater Manchester courts while managing a complex population at the front end of the prison system. When adjustments to the prison regime are required to guarantee the safety of colleagues and prisoners, those changes are made.
"We continue to work with police to tackle the conveyance of illegal items, including a joint operation last week. Over the last twelve months, conveying has reduced, making HMP Forest Bank a safer community for all staff and prisoners.
"HMP Forest Bank is always willing to listen to anyone who wishes to raise concerns at a local level.”
'I pleaded with dealers on my drug addict son's wing to look after him because staff wouldn't'
One recently released drug addict inmate, who the M.E.N. agreed not to name, lifted the lid on the scale of the drug dealing and alcohol consumption on his wing.
Out of the 60 cells, he said 12 of them were used for brewing alcohol: tomatoes, ketchup, sugar and bread for the yeast were left to ferment in old, cleaned out two-litre drums under beds and beside radiators. After five days, the hooch was decanted into old Vimto bottles then sold on the wing for £100 per litre.
He revealed the widespread abuse of 'rule 39' correspondence, legally privileged letters which prison staff aren't allowed to open. Instead of documents concerning their case, he said these letters were often stuffed with sheets of paper which had been soaked in the potent psychoactive drug Spice.
Each sheet is worth up to £300, and is then cut up into £60 cards which dealers - he said there were five on his wing - sell to users. These are torn into strips to be shredded and placed in makeshift pipes fashioned from old razor blades and tin foil from yoghurt pot lids to be smoked.
New deliveries of small rocks of crack cocaine arrived on the wing two or three times a week, he said. These were usually smuggled in during prison visits when the contraband was transferred via a kiss, according to the former prisoner. Crack wasn't as freely available as other drugs but could be purchased for £30 per rock, triple the cost on the outside, he said.
Cannabis, or 'weed', was also freely available, he said. It sometimes came into the prison by being thrown over one of the walls but he also alleged some 'screws', or prison officers, were also responsible for smuggling it into the jail. A weed deal which would normally cost £50 on the outside was £100 on the inside, he said.
He said inmates were 'off their tits or drunk a lot of the time'.
The 27-year-old ex inmate described the daily routine: from 7am until noon, prisoners were allowed to associate with each other in the wing. He said this was when most of the drug dealing took place, but not exclusively. Inmates were then 'banged up' in their cells until 4.30pm for half an hour for dinner, before being locked away again.
Even whilst locked in their cells, the trading in drugs continued through inmates who were given cleaning responsibilities who could roam the wing as part of their duties. Contraband was delivered under cell doors, he said.
Dealers, he said, would often allow users like him to rack up debts, leading to tension and violence when this could not be paid.
The inmate said: "Every day I was taking drugs. I was getting into debt and I was getting pressure on me. I ended up owing three different people money on the wing. People were coming to me every day, threatening me. Once they came into my pad and battered me. I had to have stitches because they split my eye open.
"There are only two screws on that wing."
Asked if the staff had lost control, he agreed and said: "It's absolutely ridiculous."
He said of the staff: "They are only young, 21 or 22. A lot are women. There are some properly serious guys in there and they are taking advantage of it."
The inmate has served one short prison sentence for drug-related offences and had been on remand charged with more offences until the case was dropped and he was released in January.
His father, a respected community leader, sent a string of emails - seen by the M.E.N - to prison managers asking for his son to be moved to another wing, but it is alleged these were ignored and the attacks continued.
The father admitted he became so frustrated he called to speak to one of his son's dealers on the wing and reluctantly paid one of his debts. Prison bosses accused him of breaking the law.
"If I didn't have my dad to help me, I don't know what I would have done. I was panicking and in a real mess," said the former inmate.
"I went to the screws and said I'd screwed up. I owed this money and said 'please will you move me'. That got out and I had a load of aggro. I got no help at all. It took my dad to help me," he said.
"It was absolute hell. I never want to go back there again. It's a properly scary place. There was so much stress in my life. It was awful. They don't care about drug addicts."
His father described to the M.E.N. receiving desperate calls from his son pleading for help while he was inside Forest Bank. He sent a string of emails and letters to managers, including to its director asking for his son to be moved, but didn't succeed.
His son's offending was all related to his addiction to drugs, he said.
The father, a Methodist minister, said: "I'm totally honest with him. I don't collude with him or put up with any of his crap. But I'm always there for him, and he was let down inside the prison. He was being attacked and bullied. They should have protected him. I don't make a habit of paying his drugs debts but I had to do something to protect him. I don't think they have enough staff. It's obvious they cannot stop drugs coming in. They know drug dealing goes on but they turn a blind eye. Something needs to change."
In one terse email, Sodexo told the father: "I am not going to continue these exchanges of emails with you. I need to be absolutely clear with you, for the avoidance of doubt, that by continuing to pay drug dealers for drugs to be consumed by (your son) or anyone else for that matter, not only are you breaking the law, but you are putting (him) at considerable risk, as well as other prisoners and my own staff. It is incredibly reckless and misguided behaviour and helps nobody, regardless of how well intentioned it is. As a parent myself, I understand that we'd go to the ends of the earth for our children, and I admire you for that. However, by personally contributing to the illicit trade of drugs within HMP Forest Bank you are only doing harm, regardless of intent."
The M.E.N. asked the prison to comment on the allegations that the inmate had been repeatedly attacked over debt he could not repay and that his father's repeated emails asking for his son to be moved to another wing were ignored. We also put to the prison a claim from the father that he said he received more help from one of the dealers on the wing than prison officials, and that managers 'turn a blind eye' to drug dealing.
A spokesperson for HMP Forest Bank said: "The conveyance of illegal items in all forms is a well-documented challenge across all prisons. As one of the largest, busiest and most complex prisons in the country, we constantly review our activities to respond to the frequently changing tactics employed in conveyancing.
"We continue to work with police to tackle conveying which has reduced in the last twelve months, making HMP Forest Bank a safer community for all staff and prisoners."
Responding to claims some prison officers brought drugs in the prison, the spokesperson added: "We take a robust approach to the conveyance of illicit items and continue to invest in and improve infrastructure and technology against this threat. Everyone entering HMP Forest Bank is subject to airport style searching, including prison staff."
'I blame the prison for my husband's death.'
At least six inmates have died at the prison since 2018, the latest on January 4 this year. Among the others to have died are Michael McDonagh , 27, who was found unresponsive in his cell in February 2019 and 63-year-old retired HGV driver Raymond Lucy, who was found dead in his cell in July of that year. It was his first jail sentence.
Margaret Murphy, Mr Lucy's widow, blames the prison for her husband's sudden deterioration in his health. A post mortem examination concluded he died as a result of acute exacerbation of asthma in combination with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) syndrome and cardiac enlargement.
She will tell an inquest into his death, expected to be held at the end of the year, that when she visited Ray's cell after his death that two air vents had been painted over.
Margaret, from Chadderton, told the M.E.N: "That prison should be run by the government because Sodexo is just doing it for profit. They're not spending enough on the prisoners."
She said her husband had been fit and healthy despite being a smoker but his weight plummeted and his health deteriorated after he was handed his first ever prison sentence, aged 63, having been sentenced to 20 months in prison for possession of a pistol with intent to cause violence, and possessing a knife, at Minshull Street Crown Court in April 2019.
She said she was in phone contact with her husband about three times every day and that he had repeatedly told her he struggled to breathe in his cell and obtain the correct medication. Tragically, on the night before his death he is said to have told her he feared he would die.
"He told me 'I'm scared - I can't breathe because there's no air in here'," said Margaret.
Responding to Margaret's comments, A spokesperson for HMP Forest bank said: "Every death in a custodial setting is investigated by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and while we fully support all due process leading to the pending inquest, we are unable to comment further at this stage. Our thoughts continue to be with the family of Mr Lucy."
Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, after considering the allegations, told the M.E.N: "I'm absolutely horrified to read about what's happened. I aim to instruct the government to initiate an urgent investigation into this matter.
"The long-running problems at Forest Bank don't appear to have been resolved and they are putting inmates and staff at risk. There appears to be a culture of lawlessness and a demoralised workforce. This is not in isolation. There appears to be issues right across the privately-run prison sector.
"I have always thought prisons should be run by the state and not by private organisations who owe a duty to their shareholders before anybody else. It cannot be in the public interest that prisons are run by private organisations."
She said the government should not have allowed Sodexo to keep its contract after the prison's watchdog handed Forest Bank a 45-day improvement notice in August 2021.
Responding to calls for the prison to be brought into the public sector, a Prison Service spokesperson said: "Privately-run prisons are among the best performing across the estate and have been consistently praised by independent inspectors."
It is understood no decision has yet been made about next steps after the end of Sodexo's contract in January 2025.
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