Legal highs responsible for rise in prison violence

A report has discovered that legal high drugs are partly responsible for a rise in violence at a Leeds prison.

According to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), violent assaults have risen dramatically since 2013 at HMP Leeds. Usually, there are around 32 assaults committed against prison staff and other inmates each month, with roughly 10% of these causing a serious injury.

The report claims that legal highs, also known as new psychoactive substances, were a ‘major factor’ in this rise in violence at the prison. The inspectors also reported a high use of both force and segregation used against inmates and that the prison cells were inadequately equipped.

Despite these criticisms, the inspectors did report that drug and alcohol support for affected prisoners was, on the whole, good. Inmates were also found to spend a reasonable amount of time out of their cells and that the culture amongst staff was ‘basically positive and decent’.

The findings were described by the deputy chief inspector of prisons, Martin Lomas, as disappointing, who claimed that some of the most fundamental issues regarding safety needed addressing urgently.

HMP Leeds is similar to other prisons, said the chief executive of the National Offender Management Service, Michael Spurr, in that it has had to deal with a huge rise in the supply of new psychoactive substances while costs were being cut. He claimed that improving safety in the prison was a top priority, promising that the staff and governor would receive all the support needed to implement change.