Remarkable news from our neighbouhood prison Pentonville, reported in the Observer where 14 corruption cases against former staff have collapsed.  We reported on the original charges in 2006 as the governor sought to clean up the jail.  There was a good contemporaneous 2006 comment piece about the state of the prison.  We also reported the news of another member of staff being charged with phone smuggling in the last few days.  A profound failure in such a large charge will have an odd effect on how the prison runs.  The governor at the time of charging, Gary Deighton has moved on and Nick Leader took over in Spring 2007.  Shortly after Mr Leader took over the Prison Commission said:

Pentonville is a prison that has been performing significantly poorly against a range of measures for some time. The prison has been disorganised and dirty, with staff, prisoners, and various inspections expressing deep dissatisfaction at the conditions. The previous governor made some inroads into the systemic failings that were apparent with the introduction of a new staff profile, self-rostering and core day, and by tackling drug trafficking and staff corruption issues in a robust manner.

Nick Leader, the new governor, arrived with a clear brief and is leading the prison through a PIP, something he has done very successfully at previous establishments. In recent months it has become evident that significant positive change is underway at Pentonville, which it is anticipated will shortly be recognised by the announcement of a rise to level '2' on the Prison Service performance ratings.

Nick Leader has done some innovative things that have been reported outside the prison including a concert by Dirty Pretty Things.  Will see if i can get some more information from the generally tactiurn prison service.