Letters ‘soaked in liquid drugs’ sent to inmates Former prisoner accuses city prison officers of losing control of drug trade
AFORMER violent gang member has demanded an end to the behind bars black market in mind-bending drugs that has blighted HMP Birmingham.
Speaking after being released from a nine-year stretch, the underworld figure says the rampant use of black mamba, spice and cannabis has cranked up bullying at the jail.
And he has blamed the flood of illicit substances for a spate of deaths at the privately-run Winson Green prison.
He also revealed that with the prison effectively eradicating drug deliveries by drones, inmates are becoming increasingly innovative.
Letters from outside are being soaked in liquid black mamba.
“A sheet of A4 costs £200,” says the former prolific offender. “But that can be cut into £50 strips.”
The ex-prisoner, whose extensive criminal record has led to time at most of England’s jails, has called for more regular searches of individual cells and tighter monitoring of prisoners.
He also wants to see more cameras on wings.
The lag, who has asked not be named, said: “Bullying breeds from drugs, it’s all over money. It has to be stamped out. I was smoking mamba and weed, but got off it. Others don’t.”
And he warned that the prison – scene of a mass riot in December 2016 – is a powder keg of mounting anger and tension.
“It will go again,” he says. “I was there at the time and it was crazy, it was scary. We’re talking about people swigging methadone. It was chilling.
“As a kid, I used to imagine one prisoner taking the keys and opening all the cell doors. That’s pretty much what happened.
“The searches of cells are s**t. There were five iPhones on my wing and a big tablet iPad. If you have a phone, you are breeding more crime.
“Staff are inexperienced – they are employing the kids – and all it takes is for a prisoner to say ‘Leave me alone’. They are out of their depth.
“I’ve been in that prison a few times and it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it.
“If I was the governor, I’d get 10 officers with Category A dogs and get every cell ripped to bits.”
The source, who began offending when he was 13-yearsold, is a reformed character he stresses.
“I’m not committing no crime,” he says. “Prison is for mugs. All I care about is my family.
That change of career is due, in part, to his experience at HMP Birmingham.
Things there are so out of control, he claims, that one highprofile cocaine baron is still operating a lucrative drugs empire from inside – so lucrative that he can afford to pay a lieutenant on the streets £5,000 each week.
“He doesn’t want to get jokes the former prisoner.
Four inmates died last month at the jail, formerly called Winson Green Prison. At least two of those, he says, are linked to the behind bars drug culture.
The former prisoner has inside knowledge of two of the deaths, which all took place last month.
The searches of cells are s**t. There were five iPhones on my wing and a big tablet iPad
out,”
The body of rapist Ricardo Holgate was found on March 26. He was only a teenager when he preyed on prostitutes in Bristol.
Reports at the time alleged that the 35-year-old had overdosed on black mamba or spice.
“He took monkey dust,” says the source. “It’s as powerful as crack, yellow and mushy.”
The synthetic drug, also”known as ‘zombie dust’ and ‘cannibal dust’ makes users impervious to pain.
It produces high body temperatures that induce hypothermia, severe paranoia, hallucinations, and agitation.
John Delahaye – awaiting trial after an alleged knife attack at an Aston church – was discovered dead in his cell on March 5.
“He didn’t speak to anyone inside, but on the night,I was told by people on his wing he was banging on the cell door,” says the ex-con. “I think he thought his life was over.”
A third inmate, 23-year-old Andrew Carr, is believed to have died after taking drugs smuggled in through his toilet.
Ex-con