Why drugs are wreaking havoc on the prison system
If you wanted to find a jail full of determination to tackle the crisis in the country's jails, you could do worse than head to Holme House in Stockton-on-Tees. To be fair, that's probably exactly why the Ministry of Justice chose it to allow us access, to witness life on the front line.
It's a far cry from the Victorian jails like Wandsworth and Brixton, struggling with filth and vermin, and the very fabric of their buildings.
As Kate Duncan, the young governor in charge of reducing reoffending shows us around, she's clearly proud of all the prisoners' art work on display, the allotments tended by offenders and the chickens running free.
But Holme House has become a perfect illustration of the scale of the struggle facing prisons.
Until last year it was a training and resettlement jail but it's been reclassified and now has to accept remand prisoners.
As it helps ease pressure on other overcrowded jails, it's now inheriting new problems as more and more drugs seep into the prison.
'With that you get a rise in assaults on prisoners,' she explains. 'Prisoner on prisoner assaults because of debt. You've got a rise in staff assaults.'
'Nobody wants to come to work, to go home to the families to say they've been assaulted. We've seen a rise of self-harm because prisons just can't cope at the minute.'
– Kate Duncan
Security officer Bryan Richardson says offenders are finding new ways of benefiting from the now sophisticated drugs economy in the prison.
'With us being a remand jail now, we do get a lot of (offenders) coming straight from recall. So they deliberately get themselves recalled to bring packages secreted internally back into the prison. They're getting paid to do it. Thousands of pounds sometimes to bring it back in.'
But while some of the offenders are making money – others are being exploited through violence.
'They're being pressured and bullied into it as well,' he said. 'So to pay off their debts with other dealers, they then are having to bring stuff in when they're getting recalled.'
Drugs have always been a problem in jails, but a devastating report today from the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, says a huge influx of drugs, driven by organised crime, is wreaking havoc across the estate.
The report said prisoners were now virtually given a 'menu' of available drugs to choose from.
Steroids? Cocaine? Spice? Take your pick.
And with the rise in the flow of drugs, the Chief Inspector says there's been a rise in violence too.
In another 'difficult' year, he says, assaults between prisoners have gone up, assaults on staff too by 13 per cent across England and Wales. There have been seven murders in one single year.
'I cannot overstate my concern about the rapid and widespread ingress of drugs,' said Mr Taylor.
In a call to action to the Government, Charlie Taylor said it had to take the issue much more seriously, adding that 'far too little was being done to keep drugs out of jails.'
As well as being dangerous and destabilising, the report said it was seriously impacting prisons' ability to rehabilitate and prepare offenders for release.
Back at Holme House, that is one of the most troubling consequences of the influx of drugs.
The vital work in preparing offenders for release is too often being squeezed as staff are diverted to other duties, not least tackling the violence caused by drugs.
What do they need? More resources.
Will they get it?
Governor Kate Duncan remains hopeful. 'I wouldn't be standing here now if I wasn't.'
The Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord Timpson, said in a statement:
'This report shows the scale of the crisis we inherited and the unacceptable pressures faced by our hardworking staff – with prisons dangerously full, rife with drugs and violence.
'We are ending this chaos. After just 500 prison places added in 14 years, we're building 14,000 extra – with 2,400 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again. We're also improving prisons so they cut crime, not create better criminals.
'We're also investing £40 million to bolster security, alongside stepping up cooperation with police to combat drones and stop the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.'
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