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A high-security prison was described as an ‘airport’ to official inspectors, such are the illegal drugs carried in by drones.
Garth is a jail ‘of real concern’, according to official inspectors who found ‘widespread’ availability and use of illicit drugs. Insecure windows were allowing drugs to be trafficked into the prison. The authorities have sought to remove paper, increase patrols of the perimeter, have delivered drone awareness training and searched prisoners at unpredictable times, but these measures were not enough, according to the inspectors’ report. “Prisoners were continually burning holes in the prison windows at a faster rate than they could be repaired,” to let in drones. Some window holes got temporary fixes, but daily checks of cells did not make sure that the temporary fix was still in place.
HMP Garth is a category B training prison in Lancashire which held 816 adult men at the time of the unannounced inspection in the summer. The inspection report said that the smell of drugs was evident throughout their visit; and a large number of prisoners ‘wanted protection from their peers because they were in debt’.
As for searches, inspectors stated that searches were often cancelled, because a dedicated search team was cross-deployed to cover staff shortfalls elsewhere. That also meant delays in new arrivals getting their property searched and given to them. The governor had recently implemented a part-time search regime. Staff were unable or unwilling to challenge frequent unruly behaviour and rule breaking by prisoners. The inspection report stated that a ‘considerable minority’ of new staff arrived at Garth ill equipped.
Officers told inspectors that they felt unsupported by a behaviour management system that had largely broken down. The inspectors described systems for logging violence and self-harm as inadequate; many incidents were going unreported.
Physically, inspectors found, things had continued to deteriorate since the previous inspection in 2022.
Comment
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “Garth holds some very serious offenders. Although the governor had a good understanding of the many challenges the prison faced, without better support from the regional team and the prison service it will continue to be a jail of real concern. It is imperative that the prison service finds a way to stem the ingress of drones to reduce the supply of drugs into prisons like Garth, so they can begin to reduce violence and get men out of their cells and into a full day’s work and training. Staff attendance and capability will need to improve significantly and without substantial investment from the prison service, drugs will continue to flow into this troubled jail.”
Meanwhile Charlie Taylor has issued an Urgent Notification about Winchester Prison. Inspectors described the prison as in ‘a very poor state’ for years. Mr Taylor in his letter to Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood mentioned weaknesses in physical security, ‘including the fabric of B wing where a prisoner had removed his cell door. More than a third of CCTV cameras were not working’.
Likewise Mr Taylor sent a letter of urgent notification about Manchester Prison, which he described as ‘fundamentally not safe enough for those living and working in there’. He concluded that ‘organised gang activities’ and supply of drugs and other illicit items ‘were so clearly undermining every aspect of prison life’.
And an inspection of HMP Rochester led Charlie Taylor, to write with the first ‘urgent notification‘ for improvement at a category C, training and resettlement, prison, after inspectors found ‘endemic’ use of illicit drugs and increasing incidents of violence against staff and prisoners.
