Beside a vandalized fence opposite HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, Beatrice Auty, 28, wipes away tears. The memories of his time in prison are too difficult to bear.

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

“He made me very uncomfortable,” Auty says. “He commented a lot on my appearance. He suggested he wanted to come to my cell. I think if I had agreed, he would have asked for sexual favors.

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

As the country’s prisons run out of cells and the government releases offenders early to ease pressure, the BBC has reported on the problems 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 prisoners.

A record 165 prison staff were dismissed for misconduct in the year to June 2024, according to Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). This represents an increase of 34% compared to the previous year.

Among the reasons for these dismissals are sexual acts and other inappropriate behavior with inmates, as well as the sale of drugs and phones – a lucrative business inside prisons.

In 2023, Auty was convicted of smuggling millions of pounds worth of cash from London to Dubai.and sentenced to 42 months in prison.

She served 14 months at HMP Bronzefield – Europe’s largest prison for female offenders – before being released on licence, meaning that even though she was released, she must follow a set of rules for the rest of her term. penalty.

With his hands firmly shoved in his pockets, Auty describes how it was “not uncommon at all” to see Bronzefield prison staff doing business.

“Medications were often transported on food carts and then distributed at the other end into buildings,” Auty explains.

“On the one hand you have a prison service that is supposed to play by the rules and be strict and uphold British values, and in reality you have corrupt officers.”

In response to Auty’s claims, Sodexo, the private company that runs the prison, told the BBC that it could not comment on individual cases, but that “when complaints are received about an employee, we undertake all possible appropriate investigations and take necessary action if necessary.”

More reports from prison

Lee Davis was a prison guard from 2006 to 2010, during which time he regularly supplied cannabis, steroids and phones to inmates, receiving between £400 and £500 for each parcel he delivered.

After agreeing to take the first package, he describes a “snowball effect.”

“Then it became two, then three,” he says, “then after the fourth package, it was all about money. »

Davis was eventually arrested and served two years in prison. He has since turned his life around and now works as a bus driver in Lancaster, but says much more could be done to stop other prison staff from sneaking inside.

“They have to up the ante by searching officers who enter the scene,” says Davis. “I’ve been searched twice in three years and it’s not a good thing. We need to stop this at the gates.”

A prison guard who did not wish to be identified and who works at another government-run English prison told us it was not surprising to hear about staff corruption.

She says everyone who works in prisons knows the drugs are supplied by officers.

“They know how to manipulate the system – they know better than anyone how to smuggle in drugs and phones – because they know the checks they have to go through,” the woman says.

“Some (prison guards) are so young and inexperienced that they easily get caught up in organized crime, with internal gangs sometimes pressuring them to supply all kinds of products.

“There is a power dynamic and prison guards may feel like they can do whatever they want, such as asking for sex. They can make life difficult for those inside, and they know it.

This year, several high-profile cases illustrate the problem of prison officer corruption.

Last month, former prison officer Richard Goss was jailed for four years after admitting smuggling drugs, needles and mobile phones into HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale.

Another former police officer, Linda De Sousa Abreu, was filmed having sex with an inmate at HMP Wandsworth in London. In July, she was found guilty of misconduct in public office. after the video went viral on social media.

Corruption in prisons is now “a bigger problem than ever”, according to John Podmore, former governor of several major prisons, including HMP Belmarsh and HMP Brixton, both in London. He oversaw the Prison Service’s corruption prevention unit and London Prison’s anti-corruption team.

“There is a perfect storm of young, inexperienced, poorly screened and poorly trained employees thrown into a dystopian environment,” Mr. Podmore says, “where violence and organized crime dominate a failing prison system.”

He estimates that the value of drugs traded within the prison grounds each year exceeds £1 billion.

No specific qualifications are required to become a prison officer in England and Wales.

On its website, HMPPS says new recruits will benefit from a 10-day induction, which includes learning about prison life and being introduced to basic security processes.

This is followed by a seven-week training program, during which trainees learn how to deal with people in detention and defuse difficult situations.

Mr Podmore describes this training as “totally inadequate” and “the worst and shortest of any jurisdiction I have observed on five continents”.

“The vast majority of officers are corrupt as a result of conditioning, manipulation, coercion and blackmail, as well as being poorly trained, poorly directed and insufficiently supervised,” he adds.

Steven Gillan, of the Prison Officer Association, told the BBC that while he defends the vast majority of “hard-working and professional” prison officers, he is “not going to sugarcoat the problem of corruption” – a problem that he describes as “very real”. .

“Prisons are complex places and there is no place or excuse for corrupt staff,” he says.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) says it “catches more of the small minority who break the rules”. This includes strengthening our anti-corruption unit and strengthening our control processes.

“Where officers fail to meet our high standards, we will always take strong action. »