- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is issuing a rare Crown Censure against the prison service (HMPPS) for exposing prisoners and staff at HMP Dartmoor to dangerous levels of cancer-causing radon gas.
- The HSE investigation found that both prisoners and staff at the Devon prison were exposed to radon significantly above legal limits for a prolonged period, despite measurements from 2020 indicating high levels.
- HMPPS finally evacuated all inmates from the Victorian-era HMP Dartmoor by August 2024, following repeated warnings, leading to hundreds of former inmates and staff joining a class action lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
- The government continues to pay approximately £4m annually for the now unusable prison, including £1.5m in rent to the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns HMP Dartmoor and provides income for Prince William.
- The scandal, described as a "catastrophic failure" by the public spending watchdog, has prompted the MoJ to investigate 42 other prison and probation sites for high radon levels, with law firms already taking instructions from affected individuals at six prisons.
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