EXCLUSIVE: Forest Bank prison in Salford has seen 27 deaths in just five years, raising serious questions about the safety and care of inmates. Paul Britton reports.
There have been 27 deaths in five years at the prison.
The Government should urgently review the management and operation of Forest Bank prison over an ‘alarmingly high number’ of deaths and ‘repeated failings’ in the care of prisoners, an MP has said.
Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford, said she has ‘deep concerns’ and has written to the Justice Secretary, David Lammy MP, asking for an ‘urgent review of conditions and oversight’ at the prison.
The number of deaths of inmates at Forest Bank over a five-year period – a total of 27 – can be revealed by the Manchester Evening News today.
Ms Long-Bailey said the situation ‘cannot be treated as routine’ and the deaths ‘suggest serious systemic shortcomings in management, oversight and safeguarding of prisoners’. The MP also claimed families and staff were ‘losing confidence’ in Forest Bank’s ‘ability to protect those in its care’.
The Category B men’s private prison in the Pendlebury area of Salford is privately run by France-based facilities giant Sodexo, but has long faced criticism and concern over the number of fatalities there. Despite that, Sodexo was awarded a new ten-year contract to continue its management and maintenance of the prison in May.
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It comes as a new report by the prisons watchdog reveals an inmate was found dead in his cell at Forest Bank just 15 hours after he was transferred there.
Stephen Wallwork, who was 34, had taken drugs before he died and was found collapsed with a vape in his hand. The prisons watchdog said it was ‘possible’ he smuggled synthetic cannabinoids inside after a transfer from HMP Wymott in Leyland, Lancashire.
But staff at Forest Bank didn’t search him – or property he had with him – properly and ‘in line with national guidance’ on his arrival there following a court appearance, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which investigates all prison custody deaths, said in the report.
Forest Bank prison
Mr Wallwork, a father-of-two, had ‘numerous open tubs of spices, rice and protein powders’ which he ‘took with him to his cell’, adds the report. Staff also ‘did not properly check Mr Wallwork’s welfare’ when they unlocked his cell on the morning of his death in July, 2024.
His family have spoken out for the first time today – to support Ms Long-Bailey’s drive for action to be taken to save lives at the prison.
‘Deeply alarming’
The Manchester Evening News can reveal, through figures provided under the Freedom of Information Act, that from January 1, 2020, to August 31, 2025, the PPO was notified of, and subsequently investigated, 27 deaths of prisoners at HMP Forest Bank.
The watchdog said the figures reflected the most up-to-date records available. As of September 24, there were 10 ongoing death-in-custody investigations at the prison.
Of the 27 deaths, six have been classified as ‘self-inflicted’ and 14 as ‘natural causes’. Two are said to be ‘awaiting classification’, four have been defined as ‘other non-natural’ and one as unascertained.
Stephen Wallwork(Image: Family/UCG)
Ms Long-Bailey told the M.E.N.: “The number of deaths at HMP Forest Bank is deeply alarming and cannot be treated as routine. Every life lost in custody represents a failure to keep people safe, and the distress caused to families and staff alike is immeasurable.
“The latest Ombudsman report highlights serious failings in basic procedures, including searches on arrival and first-night checks. These are not optional safeguards – they are the foundations of a safe prison environment.
“I am calling for an urgent review of conditions and oversight at Forest Bank, and for the Ministry of Justice to ensure that Sodexo is held fully accountable under its new contract. We need transparency, proper staffing levels, and a clear plan to stop preventable deaths once and for all.”
In her letter to Mr Lammy, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, the MP asks the Ministry of Justice to ‘confirm what specific steps are being taken to ensure Sodexo complies with all national standards on prisoner searches, property control and first-night procedures at HMP Forest Bank’.
She also calls for an ‘urgent review’ of Sodexo’s management of the prison ‘in light of these repeated failings and deaths in custody’, and to outline what additional measures can be implemented to ‘improve staff training, welfare checks and oversight to prevent further avoidable deaths’.
“The report also confirmed that Forest Bank, now operated under a renewed ten-year contract with Sodexo, has experienced a troubling pattern of deaths in custody,” Ms Long-Bailey wrote. “Between July 2021 and March 2025, at least 20 deaths occurred, with further cases still under investigation. The circumstances suggest serious systemic shortcomings in management, oversight, and the safeguarding of prisoners.
“While I recognise the complex challenges facing the prison estate, it is clear that HMP Forest Bank continues to face grave issues with safety, illicit substances and compliance with national guidance. Local families and staff are losing confidence in the institution’s ability to protect those in its care.”
‘People are going to prison, and they seem to be dying in prison’
Mr Wallwork’s mother, Kelly Kay, 52, called the number of deaths at Forest Bank ‘horrific’.
“It is 27 too many,” she told the Manchester Evening News.
Stephen was 34 and a father-of-two(Image: Family/UGC)
“People are going to prison, and they seem to be dying in prison. There are a lot of young men in Forest Bank who are not serving long prison sentences.
“I have read the report into Stephen’s death and I was horrified by it. If this can help some other family and stop them from going through what we have been through, then speaking out will be well worth it and for the good.
“I just want my son back, but I know that will not happen. He was our only child. He was my life. I was 16 when I had him and he was everything to me. I want to say thanks to the MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey, and I would be happy to meet her. Conditions there have to improve.”
She said her son had the spices and rice with him to boil in his prison kettle and eat.
Mr Wallwork, from Kearsley, Bolton, was found ‘unresponsive’ in his cell on July 10, 2024. The report, by ombudsman Adrian Usher, said: “A post-mortem was unable to ascertain the cause of his death. Toxicology results showed that he had used synthetic cannabinoids some time before he died, but there is no certainty that it played a role in his death.
“Mr Wallwork arrived at Forest Bank the night before he died, having spent the previous two years at HMP Wymott. We do not know when or how he obtained synthetic cannabinoids, and it is possible that he brought them with him from Wymott.
Ms Long-Bailey has written to David Lammy
“On his arrival at Forest Bank, staff did not properly search Mr Wallwork or his property in line with national policy and neither prison complied with national guidance on the volume of property a prisoner is allowed to keep in their possession.
“He also had in his possession a large amount of consumables (which could have been used to conceal an illicit substance) which were not searched as they should have been. Mr Wallwork had more in-possession property than is usually allowed, and neither Wymott nor Forest Bank adhered to national guidance on volumetric control.”
The watchdog said he was the 15th prisoner at Forest Bank to die since July, 2021.
Mr Wallwork was sentenced to four years in prison for robbery, driving offences and possession of cannabis in August, 2018. In August 2020, he was released on licence from HMP Hindley, but recalled to prison in May, 2021, for committing further offences.
Mr Wallwork’s mother has spoken out(Image: Family/UGC)
He was then taken to HMP Forest Bank. In June, 2022, Mr Wallwork was sentenced to 51 months in prison for affray. The report reveals he ‘spent time’ at HMP Risley and HMP Liverpool before being transferred to HMP Wymott then on to Forest Bank, where he died.
He had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder
Mr Wallwork arrived at Forest Bank at 5.25pm on July 9, 2024, after appearing in court. “The amount of property reception staff allowed Mr Wallwork to take to his cell far exceeded the amount normally allowed (known as volumetric controls) set out in HMPPS Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework,” the report said.
At 7.32am the next morning, a prison custody officer unlocked his cell. “He did not look in the cell and quickly moved on to the next cell,” said Mr Usher in his report. “He said he believed he had heard a response when he unlocked the door and said good morning. Nobody went into Mr Wallwork’s cell.”
He was found by two nurses 40 minutes later.
A post-mortem examination concluded the cause of his death was ‘unascertained’ and toxicology ‘could not determine when he had taken the drug’, added the report. “The post-mortem report found that, although he had used synthetic cannabinoids in the time before he died, there was no certainty that this contributed to his death,” Mr Usher said.
“He arrived at Forest Bank, via court, with a large amount of property, including numerous open tubs of spices, rice and protein powders purchased from the prison canteen, which he took with him to his cell. The consumables were not searched at either Wymott or Forest Bank.”
Forest Bank prison
An ‘open verdict’ was found after an inquest.
Self-inflicted deaths are classed as any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life irrespective of intent. It also includes accidental deaths as a result of the person’s own actions.
What PPO and Sodexo have said
The PPO said: “The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) carries out independent investigations into complaints and deaths in custody. The detailed role and responsibilities of the PPO are set out in our office’s Terms of Reference.”
The PPO said it has three main duties:
•To investigate complaints made by prisoners, young people in detention (prisons and secure training centres), offenders under probation supervision and individuals detained under immigration powers (detained individuals).
•To investigate deaths of prisoners, young people in detention, approved premises’ residents and detained individuals due to any cause, including any apparent suicides and natural causes.
•To investigate deaths of recently released prisoners that occur within 14 days of release from prison (except homicide).
“The purpose of these investigations is to understand what happened, to correct injustices and to identify learning for the organisations whose actions we oversee so that the PPO makes a significant contribution to safer, fairer custody and offender supervision,” it added.
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The most recent inspection of HMP Forest Bank by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, carried out in 2022, saw Sodexo issued with a formal notice after concerns about the safety of prisoners and conditions. There was also concern over the supply of drugs and illicit items, organised crime and staff corruption.
Mobile phones and drugs ‘in very large numbers’ were coming into the prison ‘in parcels thrown into exercise yards’.
A review of the progress made, conducted in January, 2023, found ‘a substantial reduction in the availability of drugs, weapons and mobile phones since the last inspection’.
But the report added: “However, the threat posed by the ingress of drugs remained and the mandatory drug testing failure rate was among the highest for this type of prison, at over 30 per cent for the previous six months, with cannabis being the prevalent drug of choice.”
A Sodexo spokesperson said: “Any death in custody is treated with the utmost seriousness, and our thoughts remain with the families and friends of those affected. All such cases are investigated by the Prisons & Probation Ombudsman and subject to a Coroner Inquest, which we fully cooperate with.
“Following any death in custody, our priority is to implement effective and positive changes in the prison. We review all conclusions and recommendations made by the Coroner or PPO with great care, as we continue to build on the progress made to provide a safe and rehabilitative environment to all prisoners.”