Criminals in Britain’s jails are hooked on drugs and daytime TV, warns watchdog
CRIMINALS in Britain’s jails are spending their sentences getting high and watching daytime TV, the prisons’ watchdog has warned.
A menu of substances including cannabis, cocaine, and steroids is on offer, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor says.
Drones used by criminal gangs are so accurate that they can deliver drugs and weapons, such as zombie knives, directly to specific windows.
App What3words is being used by gangs to pinpoint drop-off locations to the nearest three-yard square.
And other packages are being dropped and disguised as grass cuttings in overgrown areas.
In his damning report, Mr Taylor said: “It costs £57,000 a year to keep someone locked up and many are in their cells for up to 22 hours a day, high on drugs, watching daytime TV.
“This is hardly a rehabilitative atmosphere and hardly value for money for taxpayers.”
Seven people were murdered in prisons over the past year, with an increase in violence against staff and fellow inmates fuelled by drugs and overcrowded conditions.
Mr Taylor added: “Packages of up to 10kg being brought in means in some prisons there is a menu of drugs.
In our surveys of prisons we found 39 per cent of prisoners said it was easy to get drugs in their jail.”
His report, published today, found drones were making regular deliveries to Manchester and Long Lartin which hold some of the most dangerous men in the country.
Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, said: “We’re building 14,000 extra prison places and reforming sentencing so we never run out of space again.”
