Drug offences behind bars rise at Bovingdon prison

The number of prisoners caught breaking drug rules behind bars at The Mount prison last year increased, despite signs of improvement elsewhere across England and Wales.

It comes after the prisons service launched a new strategy to tackle the flood of narcotics finding their way into jails, which has been blamed for an increase in violence and self-harm.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show 232 adjudications – mini court hearings which take place when a prisoner is accused of rule-breaking – were recorded for drugs-related infractions at HMP Mount in 2019.

Of these, 189 (81 per cent) resulted in a guilty verdict.

That was a rise of 3 per cent from 2018, when there were 184 guilty verdicts.

Overall, 3,150 adjudications took place during the year, meaning drugs featured in 7 per cent of cases.

Other reasons include assaults, threats or abusive behaviour, and disobeying orders.

Across England and Wales however, the number of drug-related adjudications leading to a guilty verdict fell by more than a quarter during the same period, from 11,523 to 8,319.

Charity the Prison Reform Trust urged caution in interpreting the figures, arguing that reliable measures of drug use in prison are "notoriously difficult to design".

Director Peter Dawson said: "These figures on their own cannot tell the whole story. But it is reasonable to expect that a balanced strategy, which both restricts supply and reduces demand, will bear down on illicit drug use.

"The prison service has published such a strategy – everything now depends on implementing all of its elements, the carrot as well as the stick."

The charity had previously called for greater investment to tackle the root causes of drug use in prison, which it said fuelled violence and self-harm, and spilled over to families outside.

During the year, 405 punishments were handed out for drug offences at The Mount – 2.1 punishments per offence.

The most common sanction, on 142 times occasions, was the forfeiture of privileges, such as the prisoner's access to a TV, extra visitors, or permission to wear their own clothes.

This was followed by confinement to the prisoner's cell, in 94 cases.

The misuse of drugs in prisons was identified as "one of the biggest challenges facing our criminal justice system today" by the MoJ and HM Prisons and Probation Service, when they set out their strategy to tackle the issue in April last year.

The report acknowledged the "significant" scale of the problem, with the rate of positive results for random drug tests increasing by 50 per cent between 2012-13 and 2017-18.

An MoJ spokesman said the Government is investing £100million to bolster prison security, clamping down on drugs and weapons that fuel violence.

He said: "Illicit substances pose huge challenges in our prisons which is why we have brought in airport-style security – including x-ray body scanners – to stop them getting in.

"Extra training is making jails safer for offenders and staff, and we work closely with healthcare providers to ensure prisoners have the support they need to live drug-free upon release."

The Government is investing £2.75 billion to transform the prison estate:

- with up to £2.5 billion to provide 10,000 additional prison places and create modern, efficient jails that rehabilitate offenders, reduce reoffending and keep the public safe.

- a further £100 million will also bolster prison security, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence, self-harm and crime behind bars.

- An additional £156 million to tackle the most pressing maintenance issues.

- This is on top of the extra £70 million spent across the estate to fund safety, decency and security improvements, including airport-security style scanners, phone-blocking technology, enhanced perimeter searches and more drug detection dogs. This has contributed to an increase in drug finds.

Last year MoJ published the National Prisons Drug Strategy – sharing examples of best practice to tackle drugs –providing leaders with guidance on how to reduce supply and demand.

The MoJ have supported the 10 Prisons Project to set up Incentivised Substance Free Living areas. These enable prisoners who can demonstrate – through regular testing – that they are not misusing drugs, to experience better living conditions.