Inmate died in fire and another almost lost leg to spider in UK’s packed prisons

A new report sheds light on the state of prisons in England and Wales (Credits: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

An inmate at a prison in the north of England died in a fire after an alarm is thought to have failed to go off, according to a new report on the huge pressures facing the prison estate.

The latest review by the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) covers incidents in the carceral system across England and Wales in 2025.

It highlights the death of a prisoner in a cell at HMP Garth, south-west of Leyland in Lancashire as an example of a ‘lack of working fire alarms in parts of some prisons’.

Issues with pests an...