‘Rotting’ Winchester Prison is rife with drugs, violence and rats says former magistrate

A former magistrate has told Channel 4 News that she has resigned because she can no longer sentence people to her local prison, knowing the desperate state it’s in.

Georgia Swift the jail was rife with drugs and violence and is simply “not a safe place” – and that she couldn’t send anyone to HMP Winchester and still “sleep well.”

Last month, Winchester became the ninth prison in two years to be judged by inspectors to be failing.