Prison in grip of drug epidemic, says ex-con Former prisoner says ‘black mamba’ epidemic inside nearly killed him and has created a climate of fear
AFORMER Birmingham Prison inmate has revealed how he nearly died three times after taking illegal drugs behind bars.
Ricky Wood, who collapsed inside the troubled Winson Green jail four weeks ago, says his family was not told his life was hanging in the balance.
And he accused private prison firm G4S of trying to cover up a drug epidemic inside the riot-hit jail.
Wood’s life was saved by paramedics who revived him and rushed him to Birmingham’s City Hospital. His family, from Tamworth, confirmed they were not told of the emergency.
Instead, it was left to the 28-year-old inmate to break the news to them himself.
He had taken Black Mamba, a so-called ‘legal high’ before it was banned.
Wood, who was freed from the prison on the day of the riots, recalled: “I just remember breathing it in. Next thing I knew, I had woken up in cuffs at hospital where I was told I had died three times.
“They said my airwaves had closed up, my heart stopped and I had to be revived three times.
“They have since told my mum that they would only have called her if my condition had worsened. I’m not sure how much worse it could have got.
“The only reason they would have called my mum is to identify my body.
“I think it’s part of an attempt to keep everything quiet about all the Mamba incidents. They don’t want people to know what’s happening.”
Black Mamba is so common in UK prisons that inmates have referred to ambulances deployed to treat victims as ‘mambalances’.
An official report by the prison watchdog in October said bosses at Birmingham needed to find an “urgent solution” to stop inmates smuggling drugs – particularly psychoactive substances such as Mamba and Spice – warning that staff were increasingly concerned about their personal safety.
Mother Tracy Wood, 45, said: “A parent has the right to know that their child has been rushed to hospital, whether they have committed a crime or not.
“I only found out about this when he called me – and his call was cut off when he started to explain what had happened.
“When I contacted the prison, they refused to give me any information and told me to put my request in writing. They later told me the incident was not urgent enough to require a call to the next-of-kin.
“They said I should complain in writing if I wasn’t happy. I have contacted a solicitor and intend to pursue a complaint.”
Her son, who served a 20-week sentence for harassing an expartner, claimed the prison was awash with Mamba and similar drugs, with some prisoners even trading their daily meals for Mamba.
“It’s true that people are willingly taking this stuff,” he said. “But a Mamba addiction is worse than heroin.
“People are even trading in their dinner for it. It leads to debts and even more problems, arguments and fights. There was also quite a lot of bullying of prisoners to take it.
“I saw one guy trying to get out of taking a ‘bong’ but he was told to shut the f*** up and smoke it. Eight people were taken to hospital because of it on one weekend alone.”
He said that the recent riot was a result of tempers boiling over, a lack of respect between prisoners and guards, and the effects of Black Mamba.
“It’s making people really unpredictable,” he warned. “It’s changing them in dangerous ways and it’s causing all sorts of other problems with debts and bullying.
“Issues are always bubbling away inside places like that. It’s just the way prisons are, and a mob mentality takes over when trouble does break out.
“Some prisoners treat the officers like it’s their fault and they are the enemy, which they are not. They are just doing what they are told.”
Wood thinks those who will suffer most from the fallout from the riot are the prisoners themselves.
“It’s true there is no staff and that completely ruins the routine sometimes,” he said. “So the prisoners came up with the fantastic solution of smashing the place up.
“If they think the meals are bad now they will be much worse in six months when G4S is hit with the bill to repair the place.”
Ricky Wood