Drugs being thrown over prison walls every day

A report has found that Illegal drugs are being thrown over the walls every day at a prison already struggling to cope because of staff shortages.

The report, carried out by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, also warned that violent incidents, already high at HMP Exeter, could become worse. The prison watchdog stated that there were not enough staff members to run the prison, but the National Offender Management Services (NOMS) claimed to be confident that the issues raised in the report could be resolved.

HMP Exeter is a Category B prison, which, during August of last year, held 490 prisoners and was lacking 123 prison officers. In the six months before the watchdog visit, there had been 96 assaults, 45 fights, and 173 incidences of self-harming among prisoners.

Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said, “If the shortage of staff provided the backdrop to the difficulties at HMP Exeter, the foreground was filled by the challenges of drugs, violence and prisoners suffering from mental health issues. These were, of course, intertwined, and each in their own way was exacerbated by the impact of staff shortages.”

The prison is vulnerable to the supply of illegal drugs, such as new psychoactive substances and cannabis, thrown over the prison walls on a daily basis. While the security measures currently in place are on the whole proportionate, dealing with such security breaches is a real challenge, said Mr Clarke. The report discovered that hooch, an illegally made alcohol, was also causing problems.