RAT’S SNEAKY
CRIMINALS are trying to pass contraband such as phones and drugs to inmates by stuffing it in rats and lobbing them over jail walls.
Officers in the UK found three dead rodents lying inside a fence and noticed they were stitched along their stomachs.
They opened them up to find five mobiles and chargers, three SIM cards, cigarette papers and drugs including spice and cannabis.
The Ministry of Justice said intelligence suggests the rats were thrown in by organised criminals co-ordinating with an offender on the inside.
British Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said: “This shows the extraordinary lengths to which criminals will go to smuggle drugs into prison and why work to improve security is so important.
“Drugs and mobile phones behind bars put prisoners, prison officers and the public at risk.” While tennis balls and pigeons have been used to get contraband into jails, the MOJ said the find at HMP Guys Marsh, Dorset, this month was the first recorded case using rats.
Drugs, particularly spice, are a key factor in surging levels of violence and disorder in our prisons.
Jails are also trying to stem the flow of RISK ITEMS Haul includes phones, drugs & cig papers illegal phones amid fears they are used to facilitate more crime and intimidate victims from behind bars.
In the 12 months to March 2018, there were 13,119 incidents where drugs were found in prisons in England and Wales – a rise of 23% on the previous year.
Discoveries of mobiles also increased, up 15% to 10,643 cases.
Officials say inmates are adopting increasingly inventive tactics, including stashing contraband in hollowed-out furniture or in electrical items.
Category C HMP Guys Marsh has had a number of critical watchdog assessments. Last year, the prison’s Independent Monitoring Board reported that inmates have “easy access” to mobiles and “make calls at times to suit themselves”.
And in 2017, a report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons detailed how inmates were able to walk around the jail in dressing gowns or just in their shorts.
This shows the lengths to which criminals will go to get drugs in JAILS MINISTER RORY STEWART
ON RATS PLOY