Anarchy rips through jails
Drug seizures up by 23%, assaults at a record level and more inmates simply walking out of open prisons
England’s jails are now ‘out of control’ with surging levels of drug use and violence against prison officers, official statistics reveal.
The shocking figures show there has been a sharp rise in the number of offenders absconding.
assaults on guards soared to record levels – up more than a quarter in just 12 months to more than 9,000 a year.
The number of drug seizures jumped 23 per cent in a year. and an increase in mobile phones found in cells – used by inmates to plan escapes and intimidate witnesses – has also soared.
Justice secretary david gauke admitted the increase in prison drug use was a very significant challenge.
‘It is making the system much harder to operate than it would otherwise be,’ he said. ‘We need to be very strong in terms of dealing with violence in prisons. We are exploring options such as the use of pepper spray.’
The figures released by the Ministry of Justice show that attacks on prisoners and staff have almost doubled in a decade.
There were a record 31,025 assaults in the year to March – up 16 per cent on the previous 12 months.
The assaults were carried out at rate of 364 per 1,000 prisoners, with 3,926 classed as ‘serious’. These would require medical treatment or result in fractures, burns or extensive bruising.
Within the total figure, there were a record 9,003 attacks on staff – up 26 per cent from 2017 – with 892 classed as serious. The number of assaults on staff in the three months up to March 2018 increased by 4 per cent to 2,427 – the highest quarterly tally ever.
The MoJ report noted that there has been a change in how assaults on staff are recorded, which may have contributed to the increase.
There were 46,859 incidents of self-harm among inmates last year, up 16 per cent on 2017. The number of self-harming individuals increased by 8 per cent to a new high of 11,854.
separate MoJ statistics show that more than a fifth of random mandatory drug tests in jail come back positive.
The number of drugs found went up by 23 per cent to 13,119 in 2017/18. The largest proportion were psychoactive substances, although there was been a signifi- cant increase in class B drugs finding their way into jails. Finds of phones increased 15 per cent to 10,643 and sIM cards by 13 per cent to 4,729.
Mobiles are used by prisoners for a range of criminal purposes including drug supply, witness intimidation, involvement in organised crime and escapes.
The number of inmates escaping from jails by clambering over walls or jumping out of a prison van went down by two to 13.
But the number of ‘absconds’ – inmates who walk out of an open prison – has increased. There were 139 absconds in 2017/ 18 – up almost 40 per cent on the year before.
Most of these offenders had con victions for theft, robbery and violence against the person. Problems at one in eight prisons are now so bad that they have been rated as ‘having performance of serious concern’ – the highest proportion since 2011/12. among the 15 jails in this position are Birmingham, Peterborough men’s prison, and Wormwood scrubs and Wandsworth in london. Ed davey, liberal democrat home affairs spokesman, said: ‘Beefing up security to prevent drugs and violence in prisons is important but to win back control, we will need more prison officers plus sentencing reform to reduce overcrowding.’ Richard Burgon, labour’s justice spokesman, said: ‘ What we’re seeing here are the dire consequences that austerity has created. The figures mark a new low point in this government’s mismanagement of our prisons system.’ a fly on the wall documentary last night showed how the zombie drug spice is wreaking chaos in jails. Reporters witnessed inmates at durham Prison left in a catatonic state after smoking the drug. They also watched a cell-search of a suspected dealer who bragged on camera about beating up new arrivals so they would hand over their stash. The three-part Channel 4 documentary is called Prison.