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Ministers were today accused of hiding the scale of drug use at Britain's biggest prison as an official report warned that the problem has reached its worst level.
The report says the “fertile drugs market” at Wandsworth Prison is worth more than £1million a year with illegal substances of most kinds “readily available” to inmates.
It warns that the large amount of drugs entering the prison is fuelling gang activity and violence and blames smuggling by corrupt prison officers, volunteers and contractors for much of the problem. But the report also criticises ministers for failing to tackle the use of mobile phones — which play a key role in the drugs trade — inside the jail. It also accuses the Government of producing statistics which significantly understate the scale of substance misuse.
The report says that official figures, which measure the percentage of inmates failing drugs tests, do not reflect the extent of the jail's failure to curb substance misuse. It says this is because of the inclusion in the overall total of inmates of sex offenders, few of whom use drugs.
The report, by the prison's Independent Monitoring Board, reveals:
■ “Drugs of many kinds” were found in the jail last year, with foil, wraps and other paraphernalia and weapons;
■ Around 300 inmates are taking the heroin substitute methadone;
■ Prisoners are dodging detection in drugs tests by switching from cannabis to opiates which disappear from their body sooner;
■ Ministers have repeatedly ignored calls to introduce a mobile phone jamming system;
■ A metal detecting chair, used to search inmates for phones and other items, has hardly been used and is now broken.
The findings come despite ministerial promises to tackle drug use in Britain's prisons following a Ministry of Justice report into the problem last year. It called for equipment to detect and block mobile phones in jails as well as improvements to the monitoring and searching of inmates by sniffer dogs and visitors.
“Drugs of many kinds were found on 216 occasions during 2009. Much remains to be done to combat this growing market which also fuels gang-related activity and violence.”
Wandsworth's Independent Monitoring Board says it has asked ministers to introduce a jamming system to prevent the use of mobile phones for the past six years. It states: “The Government's response has been that they will consider this when funds are available. In the current economic climate this looks highly unlikely and the increasing use of mobile phones and the drugs trade in prison is a certainty.”
One solution highlighted by Justice Secretary Jack Straw has been the introduction of metal detecting or Body Orifice Security Scanner (BOSS) chairs to prevent mobiles being smuggled into cells. But the Wandsworth report says: “Although the prison was in possession of a BOSS chair this was hardly used during the reporting period. It is now broken and under repair.”
A Prison Service spokesman denied the statistics were misleading and accused the monitoring board of reaching an inaccurate conclusion about the way figures were calculated. He insisted that “comprehensive” security measures to combat drugs were in place at Wandsworth and attempts were being made to introduce “signal blockers” that would disrupt mobile phone calls.
He added: “We take the problem of drugs in prisons seriously, and work to disrupt their supply and demand.”
Reader views (7)
Attitudes towards prisons, punishment and rehabilitation remain archaic and skewed in this country. If we don't believe people can learn from mistakes, and change- should we bring back capital punishment? We live in a democracy- we believe in space to change and evolve, don't we? God forbid any readers out there ever find themselves in a situation which leaves them facing jail. Shall we ship people off for minor traffic offences? Our prisons are wretched and decaying- cells built for one man now hold 3 or 4. Corrupt officers bring in the drugs- I've worked in many prisons and seen it first hand. ertain officers actually prefer prisoners stoned and inert- means they are less likely to be aggressive and violent. There is a heirarchy and dynmanic to prison life that nobody on the outside could every understand. The drug problem is about boredom, power, and opportunity.
- Annabel, London
They cant control the drug problem in a controlled enviroment,how does this useless goverment expect to get to grips with the major drug problem on our streets.
- Dave, london
In order to cut public spending and divert more money to better resources, like teachers, nurses and pensioners, it would be better to build prisons in emerging countries. The annual cost of keeping a prisoner would more than halve. Think of what you could do with the savings.
- Frank, Copenhagen, Denmark
Sounds like a holiday camp - awash with illicit drugs and mobile telephones.
Allegedly a £1 MILLION business - and that is just in ONE prison.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
All these measures will be useless, because it is the staff, not the prisoners or visitors, who bring in the drugs.
- Neil, London, London UK
If the law enforcement agencies cannot stop hard drug use in prisons,how can they stop it's use by the general public?The answer is,they cannot.
- David Nigel Braham, Milan Italy
I don't even understand why we have inner city prisons, all prisoners should be shipped off out into the country away from functioning society.
- Bob, Cheam
