One particular incident involved a mentally-disturbed prisoner who had been denied a wash or change of clothes for weeks because staff thought he was faking his illness.

Two years later, a report from the Chief Inspector found that conditions at Birmingham had substantially improved, stating that the prison was a place where "positive attitudes are firmly embedded".

[10] In November 2007, the Independent Monitoring Board warned in a report that overcrowding at Birmingham was putting prisoners and staff at risk.

[12] Birmingham became the first publicly built, owned and operated prison in the UK to be transferred to the private sector.

[15] Numerous judicial executions by hanging took place at the prison until the abolition of capital punishment in the UK.

He was executed on 20 November 1962 after being convicted of the shooting death of newsagent Thomas Bates during the course of a robbery in Lee Bank Road on 3 June 1962.

[18][19][20] Christopher Simcox, a double-murderer, was scheduled for execution at Birmingham prison on Tuesday, 17 March 1964, but was reprieved.

Education and training at Birmingham Prison is provided by NOVUS, part of The Manchester College group.

Learning programmes for inmates include basic and key skills, bricklaying, plumbing, painting and decorating, carpentry, joinery, forklift truck training, industrial cleaning, catering, textiles, barbering, information technology, business, creative arts and performing arts.

As well as facilities for independent learners, the library has special collections on law, employment, health, community information, English as a second or other language (ESOL), and basic skills materials.

[24] A Prison Officers Association spokesman described the incident as, "another stark warning to the Ministry of Justice that the service is in crisis".

[32] Shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon said, "This is only the latest in a number of disturbances across the prison estate.

[33] Michael Spurr of National Offender Management Service Agency claimed drugs, overcrowding, and reduced staffing had put prisons under pressure.

[30] On Friday evening, specialist riot squads from His Majesty's Prison Service were dispatched to assume control of the situation due to the scale of the disturbance, which had grown to involve more than 600 inmates.

The Howard League for Penal Reform maintains the figure for deaths is the joint highest in England and Wales in 2018, together with HMP Durham, and considers it "extremely concerning".

Clarke maintained there was a "dramatic deterioration" in conditions after the 2016 riot and reported there was a lack of order, where violent people could act with "near impunity".

Some staff locked themselves in their offices, and parts of the prison were filthy, with blood, vomit and rat droppings on the floor.

Clarke wrote, "The inertia that seems to have gripped both those monitoring the contract and delivering it on the ground has led to one of Britain's leading jails slipping into a state of crisis that is remarkable even by the low standards we have seen all too frequently in recent years."

Inspectors found a further "distressed" prisoner who sat on "scruffy material on the springs of his bed" since the mattress was stolen three days before.

Chair, Roger Swindells said, "Re-opening without CCTV on those wings, and with various services not fully functioning and with limited access to education facilities did not assist in provision of a safe stable environment for the men in the prison.

The Independent Monitoring Board wrote in May 2018, "put simply, the prison fails to provide a safe and decent environment on an almost daily basis".

Notable concerns included violence, large scale prohibited drugs, also "regularly overcrowded and unfit living conditions", The board noted further, "toilets in cells with no screen, a generally dirty, poor environment, litter, objects in stairwells, broken windows, heating broken or excessive, broken showers, lack of kettles and even, on occasion, lack of kit and bedding and cockroaches ever present".