Prison gangs armed with imitation guns
PRISONERS are turning to imitation guns and improvised explosives to enforce drug dealing in a dramatic escalation of drug-related violence in jails.
The Daily Telegraph understands that an imitation firearm was found on a prisoner in Winchester jail only hours after £20,000-worth of drugs was seized on the same wing.
It follows a similar incident at Gartree jail in Leicestershire last week, where CCTV captured a prisoner firing what appeared to be a gun.
Specialist police firearms teams were drafted in to search the prison. They discovered an improvised weapon and explosives thought to have been used in the incident.
It is believed to be the first evidence of weapons being used in drug operations within jails in order to intimidate inmates owing debts to dealers.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed that an intelligence-led operation had been mounted at Gartree, where officers recovered an improvised weapon. No staff or prisoners were injured and the incident was now being investigated police. It could not comment on the Winchester incident.
The handgun at Winchester was said to have been made out of polystyrene in an art class. A member of staff saw an inmate with the gun in the canteen and raised the alarm. However, a source said: “This is as serious as it gets and nothing has been done. There could well be another firearm in the jail.”
There are claims that at Winchester over the past few months several prisoners have broken through cell walls to gain access to the landings.
Drug finds in prisons in England and Wales rose by 23 per cent last year, while assaults reached a record high, with 33,803 attacks by prisoners in the year to the end of September 2018, up 20 per cent on the previous year.
♦ The Justice Secretary will today be ordered to take immediate action at Bristol jail, where one in 10 prisoners is considered a suicide risk and an emergency hotline for friends and families was left unanswered for two weeks.
Peter Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, will issue an “urgent notification” to David Gauke, requiring him to take emergency action within 28 days to tackle “chronic” failings.