Prison officers deal drugs and ask inmates for sex, BBC told

Next to a vandalised wire fence opposite HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, 28-year-old Beatrice Auty brushes away tears. The memories of her time inside the jail are too much to bear.

She served more than a year here for money laundering, and claims she was sexually harassed by a male prison officer.

“He made me feel very uncomfortable,” Auty says. “He commented on my appearance - a lot. He suggested he wanted to come to my cell - I feel if I had been up for it, he would have wanted sexual favours.”

Auty says she reported what happened, and told us she’s spoken to other women who have had similar experiences with the same guard, who made “comments about their breasts” and “how he would want [oral sex] from them”.

With prisons across the country running out of cells and the government releasing offenders early to ease pressure, the BBC has been reporting on the issues facing a system on the brink of collapse.

There are 23,613 prison officers in England and Wales, looking after a prison population of 85,867 inmates.

A record 165 prison staff were sacked for misconduct in the year to June 2024, according to His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). That’s an increase of 34% on the previous year.

Some of the reasons for these dismissals include sex acts and other inappropriate behaviour with inmates, as well as selling drugs and phones - a lucrative trade inside prisons.

Jail and Prison work to an extent.

Alcoholics and Drug users need to be sent to Rehab as part of their sentencing.

I think the jail and prison system needs a systemic review and operational and fiscal audits.

I’ve learned local jails have a great disparity in the way they are operated. I have a friend with an alcohol problem and have learned more than I want to know about local jails.

They all seem to make money off of inmates by charging high fees for communications and commissary items.
And it seems very hard for inmates to communicate to the outside, including to lawyers. Someone on the outside has to pay for them to have voice communications, or text communications. And the jail systems operate with an automated front end, requiring someone to press 1 to acknowledge the call is from an inmate. But when your lawyers office or your health provider relies on voice mail, it’s impossible for the two to communicate. Very Frustrating.

One local jail lets inmates out into sunlight once every 2 months. Another does it almost every other day.

One local jail serves meat at least once a day. Another doesn’t.
One local jail is putting margarine (Yes trans fats) in the food.
One local jail is very hard to get visits with the nurse.
One local jail accomodates prescription meds fairly easily. Another took 2 months to get the inmate prescriptions.
One local jail automatically gives 2 for 1 days for good behavior. Another only gives 2 for 1 days if you have a job in the jail system.

We have a prison farm nearby. Some of the prisoners could literally drive off the grounds in a work truck if they wanted. They don’t because they would get sent to a much worse prison.

One CO told me “Prisons are full of people who should be in prison and some of them were pre-destined to go”. Our mission team to a medium level facility confirmed that statement from prisoner’s testimonies.

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