Exclusive

Drones flying up to 8kg of drugs into 'dilapidated' prisons, daily, as minister brands jails 'sweet shops'

8 October 2024, 17:55

Drugs are being flown into prisons
Drugs are being flown into prisons. Picture: Alamy
Fraser Knight.

By Fraser Knight.

As much as 8kg of drugs is being flown into some jails on a daily basis, LBC has heard, as the prisons minister warned they’ve become like ’sweet shops’.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Victorian-era jails, with loose windows, are seeing drones deliver substances straight to cells.

One senior source from the prison system has questioned what could come next, as he pointed to the fact they’re already being used in the US to deliver weapons and help facilitate escapes.

In his first public speech as minister, Lord Timpson told the Prison Governors Association that the system was “on the edge of disaster”.

He said: “Our crammed prisons are breeding violence, which threatens everyone’s safety.

Read more: Hollywood actor freed early from jail under Starmer's prisoner release scheme back behind bars 48 hours later

Former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick, joins calls for Texas-style justice in the UK

“Staff shortages - and a lack of experienced staff - stretch your ability to run the kind of regimes you want to run.

“So many of your prisons are dilapidated, in desperate need of repair and I know it hasn’t been easy, trying to rehabilitate offenders in a system teetering on the edge of disaster.

“It’s a system that, when we came into government, had been running at 99% capacity for months.”

James Timpson said getting on top of drug addiction would be one of his main priorities, as he suggested a desire to move away from custodial sentences for addicts.

He said a review on the sentences given to criminals was imminent.

James Timpson
James Timpson. Picture: Alamy

The chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, told LBC that both the supply - and demand - for drugs behind bars needs to be addressed.

He said: “You’re up against serious organised crime here - these are sophisticated people who are making enormous amounts of money out of the vast markups they make in prisons.

“You’re always trying to keep one step ahead.

“We will need better technology to deal with drones, like better physical security and windows that can’t be accessed in the way they are at the moment.

“Some of the older prisons, they’re easily broken, and drones can deliver right up to the prison.”

Tom Swarbrick finds this prison text 'nauseating'

Earlier this year, legislation implemented no-fly zones over prisons, to stop drones, but a source has suggested there are reservations about shooting them down, over the liability that may be faced if a person is injured by a falling device.

Mr Taylor said the use of drugs has become more widespread and open in the prisons he’s visited, describing the smell of cannabis being in the air, as he walked through several wings.

One troubled prison has seen at least a handful of inmate deaths linked to the synthetic drug spice over the past year.

HMP Parc, in South Wales, has seen 16 deaths since late February, with at least four linked to drugs.

A warning was issued by the prisons watchdog over the use of spice, over concerns about its lethality.

HMP Parc, in South Wales, has seen 16 deaths since late February, with at least four linked to drugs
HMP Parc, in South Wales, has seen 16 deaths since late February, with at least four linked to drugs. Picture: Alamy

Prison governors say they’re very aware of the problems drugs are causing behind bars but say it’s a challenging situation.

Tom Wheatley, president of the Prison Governors Association, told LBC: “Going back to the start of my career, drones weren’t a thing, so technology has played a big part in this.

“There's a battle being fought across our prisons against drugs all day every day.

“Smelling drugs is one thing but identifying them, finding them, catching somebody with them and having sanctions for someone that are meaningful is another.

“You’ve got to have privileges in prison for their removal to mean anything, but it doesn’t just now where prisoners aren’t enjoying privileges in the first place.”

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Lisa Smith, 43, was with a female friend when she was killed outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt, Kent.

'She's dead. I can't live': Haunting final words of Valentines Day shooting suspect revealed

Steve Bannon has been accused of giving a 'Nazi salute'.

Steve Bannon denies using 'Nazi salute' and claims he was waving to crowd

An urgent search is currently underway in Teeside in the hunt for a missing runner, after her vehicle was found abandoned on the roadside.

Urgent hunt for missing runner, 23, as police become 'increasingly concerned' for her safety

Hamas names six Israeli hostages set for release on Saturday

Hamas release first two Israeli hostages from Rafah - with four more set to be freed under ceasefire deal

Piran Ditta Khan has died in jail

Gang boss behind PC Sharon Beshenivsky's murderer dies behind bars months after being locked up

Donald Trump said Zelenskyy and Putin need to 'work together'

Donald Trump says Putin and Zelenskyy 'need to work together' as he denies he's planning 'trip to Moscow'

Salman Rushdie

Man found guilty of attempted murder over Salman Rushdie attack

Diddy's lawyer has quit the sex trafficking case, a New York court heard today

‘I cannot continue’: Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer quits sex trafficking case

Police officers work at the scene where a person was stabbed near the memorial of the murdered jews of Europe in Berlin

Man seriously injured in stabbing at Berlin Holocaust Memorial as police hunt suspect

Kara Alexander, 47, of Dagenham, east London, murdered Elijah Thomas, two, and Marley Thomas, five

Drug addict mother guilty of murdering her two sons then leaving bodies in bunk bed for their dad to find

The hand was found at Our Lady Immaculate school in Darndale

Mystery of ‘severed hand’ found near school in Dublin

The US has held 'positive' talks with Zelenskyy

Ukraine has 'no cards left to play' Trump claims as he slams Starmer for 'doing nothing' to end Russia's war

Pope Francis's doctors say he is 'not out of danger'

Pope Francis ‘not out of danger,’ says doctors who have prescribed ‘absolute rest’

The three brothers have been jailed for dozens of child sex offences

Three brothers jailed for sexually abusing and grooming dozens of young girls in Leeds

iPhone security update.

Urgent warning for iPhone users as Apple to remove highest level of data protection amid government security row

Steve Bannon has been accused of giving a 'Nazi' salute

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon accused of doing 'Nazi salute' during speech