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…ve deaths in the space of eight months where it was suspected that illicit drugs might have played a role.” Drugs were readily available in the jail and nearly two-thirds of prisoners said it was easy to get drugs; 30% said they had acquired a drug habit since coming into the prison. “These were very high figures”, Mr Clarke said, though the prison had developed a strategy to address the drugs problem. The leadership, Mr Clarke added, was “immense…

Published: 12 February 2019

…ettlement prison until it can deal with the inextricably linked blights of drugs and violence.” Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, said: “Tackling drugs and violence at Onley is our top priority and, while challenging, significant efforts have been made to drive improvement. These have included a major recruitment drive, with 30% more officers soon to be in place compared to 2018, along with additional secu…

Published: 21 March 2019

…again reasonably good. Mr Clarke said: “The ready availability of illicit drugs undermined much of what the prison was trying to achieve… 69% of prisoners told us it was easy to obtain drugs, and nearly a quarter of all prisoners said they had acquired a drug habit since entering the jail – a remarkable figure given the short time that many prisoners stayed there.” The report noted that psychoactive substances (PS) remained a serious problem and…

Published: 13 February 2020

…of drugs, and a shockingly high 27% said they had developed a problem with drugs since being in the prison. “Clearly, more must be done to keep drugs out of Lindholme. The lengthy perimeter of the prison is difficult to defend. When this is combined with the linkages of so many prisoners to organised crime and their obvious resourcefulness in getting large quantities of drugs into the jail, it means that further progress will be difficult to achie…

Published: 06 February 2018

…it had been and at the heart of concerns was the very serious problem with drugs. “Mandatory testing suggested a positive rate within the prison of 10.45%, which was bad enough, but this rose to nearer 36% when synthetic cannabinoids or new psychoactive substances (NPS) were included. Nearly 60% of prisoners thought it was easy to get drugs in the prison,” Mr Clarke said. Violence had risen since 2013 but some good work had been done to try to red…

Published: 05 December 2017

…, pragmatic and bold approach taken to dealing with the problem of illicit drugs which had been dominating prison life and driving very high levels of violence.” Two years ago, some 50% of prisoners said it was easy to get hold of drugs. That figure has now reduced to 30%. This dramatic improvement had not come about by chance. Brixton had introduced the scanning of post for drug-impregnated paper, put up security netting and responded in a timely…

Published: 02 July 2019

…ny other prisons, Peterborough has suffered the ravages of the epidemic of drugs – especially new psychoactive substances (NPS) – that have flowed into them in recent years and the debt, bullying and violence they cause,” Mr Clarke said. Over 50% of prisoners told inspectors it was easy to get hold of illicit drugs, and more than one in five had acquired a drug habit since entering the jail. “As a result, levels of violence had doubled since the l…

Published: 27 November 2018

…Clarke added: “I would sound a note of caution about the…impact of illicit drugs. The prison, unlike so many others, had not been destabilised by an influx of drugs, but there were some worrying signs.” The positive test rate in random tests of prisoners had risen and now stood at 14.5%. “This was too high to be taken lightly. Shortly after this inspection some 15 parcels containing contraband, including drugs, were thrown over the wall into the p…

Published: 19 February 2019

…as positive. Good progress had been made in tackling the supply of illicit drugs, with a body scanner now proving effective in deterring drug supply and finding illicit items. Mr Clarke said: “Many other steps had been taken or were in progress to reduce the supply of drugs, which was promising. Staff and prisoners… felt safer and our experience reflected this as we walked round the wings.” However, three prisoners had committed suicide in the nin…

Published: 06 August 2019

…d positive in random drug tests, more than a third said it was easy to get drugs in the prison and 13% of prisoners said they have developed a drug problem while they were there; the availability of drugs was a significant cause of bullying in the prison and there was a lack of rigour in tackling the problem; the prison was not sufficiently safe, with around 110 violent incidents a month and ineffective measures to address the behaviour of perpetr…

Published: 17 April 2012