County prison sees increase in drug use

DRUG finds at Winchester prison hit a five-year high last year, figures reveal.

Ministry of Justice data reveals 180 searches uncovered drugs within HMP Winchester in the year to March – significantly up from 37 the previous year.

It was also the highest number since comparable records began in 2016-17.

Across England and Wales, the number of drug finds in prisons fell six per cent to 20,300 in 2020-21 – a reduction Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has linked to restrictions placed on prisons during the pandemic.

However, there was an increase in discoveries of psychoactive substances – the most commonly-found drug type nationally – and cocaine.

In March last year a five-tier restriction scale was imposed on prisons in a bid to protect inmates and staff from Covid.

They ranged from ongoing testing if there was no case in a prison, to a full lockdown if there was an active outbreak – which meant no time outside for prisoners and meals served only at cell doors.

In an annual report for 202021, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales said out of 70 prisoners interviewed across six prisons, most had spent the pandemic locked in their cells for more than 22 hours a day.

The report added: ‘Some prisoners had turned to using drugs to manage their isolation and chronic boredom.’

Frances Crook, chief executive of penal reform charity the Howard League, said drugs were a ‘scourge’ in prisons. She added: ‘They have a devastating impact on the lives of prisoners and their families, and we know that the number of confiscations recorded even before the pandemic did not tell the whole story about the true scale of the problem.’

A report also found prisoners turned to drugs out of boredom and due to isolation in Covid jail lockdown.