HMP Millsike denies reports of rioting and staff fleeing prison as ex-worker says it's a 'ticking time bomb'

But numerous claims have been made that in the jail has been taken over by prisoners, with house block F "smashed to pieces" and a bomb squad called in.

The prison is run privately by Mitie - deny the reports and instead confirmed there has been some "minor disturbances" but said that the prison is working as normal.

In a statement, a spokesman for Mitie said: "The reports regarding prisoner control and staff fleeing are inaccurate. There were a couple of minor incidents yesterday, which were quickly resolved.

"The prison continues to operate as normal in line with protocols.

"We are committed to the highest standards and our dedicated colleagues deliver professional care in often difficult and demanding circumstances."

But current prison staff, who want to remain anonymous, claim that the prison is in "crisis" along with staff shortages and prisoners being locked up all day.

In an exclusive interview with GB News, former prison worker Mohammed Esa said that the prison is a "ticking time bomb".

He worked at HMP Millsike as a skills coach from People Plus and joined when it opened in March and left in September due to the stresses of the job and concern for his safety.

Esa said he witnessed drugs and weapons being brought into the prison from the start, and says he felt threatened working there.

He told GB News: "I watched the prisoners go in on day one, and from day one, there was a rampant amount of drugs on the wings.

"It was meant to be a brand new prison, but drugs were being brought in or the prisoners were making their own spice and one vulnerable prisoner cried to me and said that there were more drugs in the prison than there are outside.

"Many of the prison staff weren't experienced and had only just been trained up as prison officers and didn't always know how to handle things, and the prisoners took advantage of that.

"As well as the drugs, there were weapons that the prisoners call 'chefs' and phones as well.

"The worst situation that happened to me was when me and a female colleague were surrounded by prisoners, and if it wasn't for other prisoners intervening and saying we were support staff, I dread to think what would have happened, it was terrifying.

"All the time I was working there, I kept getting a gut feeling that 'it's going to blow, this is a ticking time bomb'.

"There were loads of white, brown, black guys formulating gangs two months in to the prison opening - a new prison shouldn't be forming gangs.

"I know how prisoners think and behave, and the amount of drugs, the amount of phones, the amount of weapons, it was so scary and the place was ready to explode."

Esa says he reached breaking point in his job when a prisoner told him he knew where Esa lived and repeated his address back to him. Esa felt like his concern was not dealt with.

He said: "When I told security that the guy has my address and that I was worried as I've got a 16 month old baby and my wife at home that he threatened he could have surrounded, they told me just to avoid the prisoner.

"I didn't feel safe and that's when I put my immediate notice in for stress as I didn't feel supported and felt I was basically being told to get on with it and shut up.

"I was a whistleblower to HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service] as I just wasn't being listened to.

"I feel like I could have PTSD from working in the prison and have constant negative memories about it."

Mitie, who run the prison, say that rehabilitation and restoration are at the heart of HMP Millsike and their "One Millsike" vision.

It's website reads: "Alongside our key partners, People Plus and Forward Trust, we’re taking a fresh approach to help everyone in our care unlock their potential and make meaningful, positive changes.

"We’re pioneering sustainability in the prison sector; HMP Millsike consumes 68 per cent less energy than even the most recent prison builds.

"HMP Millsike gives prisoners a sense of safety and respect, through a supportive and opportunity filled environment, helping them unlock their potential and brighter future."

The reports regarding HMP Millsike come as rates of violence, self-harm, and "protesting behaviours" have risen sharply in most prisons in England and Wales.

There were over 30,000 assaults in 2024, and the number of incidents where weapons or drugs were found reached new peaks in the year to March 2025.

Additionally, in the 12 months to March this year, 262 prisoners were released in error, a 128 per cent increase from 115 the previous year, according to Government data.

The vast majority occurred in prisons, while the remaining 29 happened in courts.

It emerged last month that Hadush Kebatu, the former asylum seeker whose sexual offences and subsequent legal case triggered violent unrest in Epping, Essex, this summer, had been accidentally released from HMP Chelmsford.

Since then, a number of prisoners were mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth, with foreign sex offender, Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, freed in error from Wandsworth prison on October 29, most recently arrested today.

It is not yet clear why it was nearly a week between the release at HMP Wandsworth and the police being informed that an offender was at large.

Kaddour-Cherif was also accidentally freed five days after the wrongful release of convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu.

Both Kaddour-Cherif and Kebatu were arrested in Finsbury Park.

A third man, fraudster William Smith, 35, was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth on November 3, but turned himself in on Thursday.

On Wednesday, before news about the released prisoners emerged, David Lammy, standing in for Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions, was asked five times by Conservative James Cartlidge whether any other "asylum-seeking offender" had been accidentally let out of prison.

The Deputy Prime Minister has since been under fire from the Tories for refusing to answer that question when he knew at that point about the mistaken release of Kaddour-Cherif.

Speaking on Thursday while on a visit to the building site of a new prison in Leicestershire, Mr Lammy said he had not had "all of the detail" when he faced questions in the Commons and had not wanted to risk "misleading" MPs.

He acknowledged that "the rate of release by error" was "too high" and said: "We had 800 errors under the last government, this has now gone on for a generation.

"Our prison system is in crisis so we have to bear down on this but we have a mountain to climb."

The Prison Governors' Association has also said the number of prisoners being released in error was "deeply concerning" but they had happened "under every government's watch".