The day after the death of Ian Watkins | Tom Wheatley

The Secret Life of Prisons

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10d ago 38:18

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Ian Watkins, the disgraced former front man of the rock band Lostprophets, died in HMP Wakefield on Saturday 11 October. Two men have been charged with his murder. Watkins was serving a 29-year sentence for crimes that were so shocking, the judge in his trial said the case 'broke new ground' and 'plunged into new depths of depravity'.

HMP Wakefield is a category A prison that holds people convicted of some of the most serious offences and serving extremely long sentences, including people whose infamy. So how do we deal with people imprisoned for these sorts of incomprehensible offences that, some believe, should attract the death penalty? What's it like to manage such an institution? And how does it feel to be working or serving a sentence in a prison when someone dies in these circumstances?

Tom Wheatley was Governor of HMP Wakefield from 2018 until last year, having been running maximum-security prisons for almost 20 years. He is now the President of the Prison Governors Association. He joins Phil and Paula to answer these questions and to help us understand what sort of a community exists behind the walls of our maximum security prisons.

There were 7 homicides in prisons in the 12 months to June 2025, an increase from no homicides in the previous 12 months. Deaths in custody have increased to 401 in the 12 months to June 2025, from 208 in the previous 12 months. You can dig into the data here.

Presenters:

Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association

Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock

Producer: Andrew Wilkie

Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn

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