Prisons are awash remain are scared Every
EVERY prison in Britain is faced with a shambolic meltdown like crisis-hit Birmingham.
The dire warning was sounded by prison officers last night days after the Government took over the privately run West Midlands jail because drug-crazed convicts were virtually in control.
As illegal drugs and mobile phones pour into UK jails at an unprecedented rate, the Sunday People can reveal that:
A SHOCKING 13,000 drug seizures have been made in one year – up from 10,000 the previous year.
A QUARTER of all drug finds came from jails run by firms like Birmingham’s bosses G4S – even though they account for only 10 per cent of prisons.
GOVERNORS face a loss of control despite the record seizure rates.
WORN-DOWN STAFF are quitting HMP Birmingham at the rate of one every 48 hours – and campaigners fear a similar desertion around Britain.
Last night Glyn Travis, assistant general secretary of the prison officers’ association, said: “As a result of austerity measures we’re now seeing every prison in some sort of crisis.
“Birmingham has just highlighted the problems that have been developing for the past eight years.”
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The fact staff were leaving Birmingham so frequently illustrates just how serious the problems are. It raises questions for a government still largely wedded to building new prisons for companies like G4S.
“Regardless of who runs prisons like Birmingham, there are systemic issues that must be addressed.”
The Sunday People has been at the forefront of chronicling the growing crisis in the prison system.
New figures we have show 169 officers at Birmingham have quit. Of those, 79