Three men died at Wandsworth Prison last month. All three are now under investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, at a prison the ombudsman has told MPs runs at “three or four times the national average in terms of self-inflicted deaths.”
Thomas James, 84, died on 15 March, one day before his 85th birthday. Ahmed Said, 31, died on 21 March. Kamal Uddin, 49, died on 22 March, seven days before his 50th birthday. Said and Uddin died on consecutive days. The ombudsman has not published a category of death for any of them. One is said to have been particularly problematic for the Victorian-era jail.
The three names join a list that keeps growing. The PPO’s HMP Wandsworth page now carries a long list of fatal incident investigations; the full toll documented by the ombudsman stretches to 29 deaths connected to the prison since 2019, ranging in age from 20 to 84. We have reported on most of them.
What the record shows
The coroner’s report into the death of Patryk Gladysz, a man with schizophrenia who never once saw a psychiatrist at Wandsworth, found a “complete failure” of mental health provision. The ombudsman concluded that Rajwinder Singh “would almost certainly still be alive” if sent to a different prison, after staff falsified observation records. David Wise died of hyperthermia in December 2021 after being housed in a cell with excessive heat from faulty systems. In August 2025, we revealed that prisoners were being trapped in cells reaching 40°C.
These are not isolated incidents. They are the findings of a system that has been investigating deaths at this prison for years and finding the same failures repeated.
Reform and failure
Wandsworth is not standing still. A monitoring visit in March 2026 found prisoner-on-prisoner violence down by 70 incidents, assaults on staff down by 99, and self-harm down by 78. The prison is now fully staffed. A dedicated reform wing is producing measurable results.
But the same visit found rats, disgusting showers, and men leaving with sleeping bags and nowhere to go. The promised £100 million rebuild has not begun. Three more deaths in a single week sit within that pattern of genuine reform coexisting with basic institutional failures.
What we have asked
We have submitted questions to the HM Prison and Probation Service around the circumstances of these recent deaths, and how the physical infrastructure or condition of cells at HMP Wandsworth may have contributed to any of them, including in-cell pipework, heating systems, and plumbing.
We will publish their response when it is received.
What happens next
The ombudsman’s investigations typically take between 12 and 18 months before reports are published. We will report the findings when they are available. Residents can track investigation progress through the PPO’s HMP Wandsworth page.
The Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign works to improve conditions at the jail, including through its Leavers Lounge programme. INQUEST, a specialist charity, provides support and advice for bereaved families following deaths in custody. Fleur Anderson, the MP for Putney, can raise prison deaths in Parliament and can be contacted through her constituency office.
This is the 18th story in our ongoing accountability series on HMP Wandsworth, which has documented the crisis at the prison since May 2024.
If you are affected by anything in this article, Samaritans are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call free on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org.
