13.08.06
Drug finds in UK prisons have increased by more than
a third over the past three years, new figures reveal. It comes as a leaked
confidential prison service report suggested that as many as 1,000 prison
officers in Britain are corrupt.
Data released under the freedom of information act (FOIA) shows how
many times drugs or drug equipment have been found in each prison. The total
number of such finds reached 5,490 in 2005, up from 4,050 in 2002.
The breakdown shows that the increase in drug finds at some prisons
during the period was especially high.
Ford open prison in West Sussex saw the highest rise, up 11 times to
162 finds; Wormwood Scrubs, a Victorian prison in west London, had a seven-fold
rise to 202; Holme House in Stockton on Tees had a similar increase to 191.
There was more than a tripling of drug finds at Risley in Warrington,
Cheshire to 198; a near tripling at Pentonville, a Victorian prison in north
London, to 136; a doubling at Forest Bank, a contracted-out jail in Manchester,
to 549; and a 50% increase at Highpoint, a former RAF base in Newmarket, Suffolk,
to 134.
And, although Brixton in south London is known as a drugs hotspot,
the prison there only had four drug finds last year – down from 11 in
2002.
This latest data on 145 prisons provides the most extensive overview
of the drugs problem in British jails.
However, the figures do not explain whether they provide evidence of
a growing drugs problem or prison officers are simply searching inmates’
cells for drugs more closely.
The same period has also seen an increase in Britain’s prison
population, which stands at 78,920, according to the latest figures last week.
The national offender management
service (NOMS), which was created two years ago to oversee prisons and the
probation service, released the data but said that the figures did not allow
like-for-like comparisons between prisons.
“It has been identified that there are inconsist-encies in recording
these figures between establishments which render them unsafe for comparison
purposes.
“Processes are being implemented to remove these inconsistencies
in the form of the implementation of a common methodology for recording and
improved training.”
Many prisoners go to jail with serious drugs problems. Prisons offer
advice to help inmates come off drugs, while some also provide a detoxification
service.
Corruption among prison officers is believed to be rife, with a confidential
prison service report leaked earlier this month endorsing that view. Some
officers are known to have smuggled drugs into jails.
One prison officer, Norman Egerton, was jailed two years ago for trying
to sell heroin to inmates after being caught with 147 wraps of the drug hidden
in his shoes when he started his shift at Forest Bank prison.
Manchester crown court heard that Egerton in-tended to the sell the
drugs – with a prison value of £7,000 – to the inmates.
The cost of drugs in prisons is three times more than street prices.
Forest Bank has the highest number of drug finds, according to the
newly released data.
One of the jails with the lowest figures was King-ston prison in Portsmouth,
with two finds in 2005. But it counts as having made one of the most extraordinary
discoveries.
Tennis balls containing cannabis were hit over the wall by friends
of the inmates. Warders at the prison initially thought that prisoners’
enthusiasm for collecting tennis balls “accidentally” knocked
into the yard was just a sign that the Wimbledon fortnight was imminent.
They were alerted when random drug testing revealed that 35% of inmates
were using drugs. By the beginning of April, that rate of positive testing
fell to 12.9%, just above the national prison average of 10.3%.
NOMS launched a new anti-drugs strategy in January, adding further
measures to try to cut drugs use in prisons.
Paul Goggins, prisons minister, said at the time: “I am confident
that the launch of the NOMS drug strategy will provide a more consistent and
co-ordinated approach for dealing with the use of illicit drugs.”
The new data suggest that the prison service may have turned the corner
over the drugs problem in British jails.
The number of drug finds in the first three months of 2006 totals 887,
equivalent to 3,548 over a year, which would be the lowest level this decade.
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