Prisoners stash 350 litres of booze for Xmas ... and £40,000 of drugs
‘The situation is getting worse’
INMATES at a high-security jail stockpiled 350 litres of home-made alcohol over Christmas, a report has revealed.
And more recently, staff at the prison, which holds some of the country’s most dangerous offenders, also found illegal drugs worth £40,000.
Watchdogs said Category B HMP Garth in Leyland, near Preston, where Stephen Lawrence’s murderer David Norris is serving life, is ‘one of the most unsafe’ jails they have visited in recent years.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons said violence at the jail, which holds 836 men, had ‘increased substantially’ and many incidents were fuelled by drugs, gangs and debts.
Evidence from the inspection in January pointed to a ‘ high level of availability of illicit drugs, including new psychoactive substances, diverted medication and illicitly brewed alcohol’, said the report.
Prisoners are understood to have been using sugar and fruit ordered under a weekly prison shop system and mixing them with water to make illegal alcohol, or ‘hooch’, in their cells.
Lib Dem justice spokesman Lord Marks said: ‘It seems they had enough hooch to fuel a Christmas of debauchery. The Government must get a grip on this issue. Violence in our prisons is out of control. Drugs and other contraband are major factors.’
‘Prison staff are in some of the hardest jobs. They shouldn’t have to feel under threat every time they go to work, but this Government has ignored their needs for too long and the situation is getting worse.’
Three years ago, prisoners at HMP Garth went on the rampage after drinking home-made alcohol, smashing CCTV cameras and other equipment.
Today’s report said assaults on staff had risen at the jail, where the atmosphere is ‘tense and menacing’. The number of secu- rity-related incidents, such as barricading, ‘remained a concern’, it added. And ‘delinquent and antisocial behaviour’ by prisoners often went unchallenged.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said: ‘The prison was one of the most unsafe we have been to in recent times. Violence and drugs dominated the prisoner experience.’
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: ‘This is the latest in a long line of inspection reports on a prison system that is failing and dangerous.’
Michael Spurr, head of HM Prison and Probation Service, said: ‘There is much good work being done at HMP Garth but the deterioration in safety is a serious concern and reversing this is the top priority.’
Eurocrats have criticised the Government for keeping prisoners in their cells for up to 22 hours a day, saying it makes them ‘frustrated’. A report by the Council of Europe said in some cases it was ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’.
The council, which is separate from the EU, also condemned ‘spiralling violence’ in prisons.