PRISONERS are having to buy furniture off other lags after being plonked in almost empty cells. A report reveals inmates at one jail often ended up in “poorly equipped” rooms. Photos show the sparse spaces with stripped-down beds and grubby storage units.
![[Welcome to Garth Prison sign.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2015-garth-prison-ulnes-walton-219665447.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Prisoners often have to purchase other items — such as tables, chairs, drawers, cabinets, desks and curtains — from other cons. For new arrivals, this means often facing an empty cell and having to get into debt with prison overlords, with vapes now the unofficial currency.
A prison source said: “That debt takes a long time to pay back and it usually means stashing contraband for the bigwigs.”. Prisons must supply certain basics but the jail black market means lag “bosses” run the wings and decide who gets what. Inmates at the 810-capacity HMP Garth in Lancashire often joke about “furnished” and “unfurnished” cells — saying they even sometimes had to buy pillows, blankets and mattresses.
The report by Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor says: “Many cells did not have furniture, and new arrivals told inspectors they were being made to pay for chairs or storage units by other prisoners.”. It adds that cells on the induction unit “were in a poor condition and not all prisoners were given basic items”.
