The head of the prisons watchdog has called for ‘urgent action’ to tackle the ‘threat to national security’ posed by drones bringing contraband into prisons.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, said this week that the riskiest prisoners in the country are receiving weapons and drugs, which is seriously compromising the safety of prisoners, staff and ultimately the wider public.
His comments followed inspections of two prisons with ‘thriving illicit economies’ of drugs, mobile phones and weapons. The prisons inspectorate has issued an urgent notification to the Secretary of State, describing it as ‘highly alarming’ that the police and prison service have ‘ceded the airspace’ above two high security prisons to gangs who are delivering weapons to high-risk prisoners.
HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin were inspected between September and October last year with conditions described as ‘grim’, and plagued by ‘boredom, drug-taking, self-harm and violence’. At Manchester, prisoners had burned holes in cell windows so drone deliveries could enter the prison.
Charlie Taylor told the BBC: ‘The potential for serious weapons to be able to get into our prisons in increasing numbers means that there is a risk, particularly with these Category A prisons, particularly with some of the riskiest men in the country who are either connected to organised crime gangs or they’re terrorists.’
He added in a statement: ‘The prison service, the police and other security services must urgently confront organised gang activity and reduce the supply of drugs and other illicit items which so clearly undermine every aspect of prison life.’