Inmates burn holes in windows at prison where drone drug drops so common it's like 'airport'

A UK high security has been likened to an 'airport' in a damning report, revealing how inmates are burning holes in their windows to collect contraband and drugs from drones swarming the facility.

An official inspection at HMP Garth in Lancashire told how more than a dozen cells had holes in their plastic windows, burnt through using the element from their kettles.

The inmates then use mops and brooms to hook packages containing phones, illicit substances and tobacco hanging from drones flying over the jail.

In a report on HMP Garth published today (Tues), Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor wrote that prisoners were "continually burning holes in the prison windows at a faster rate than they could be repaired".

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A third of inmates tested positive during random drug testing and nearly 60 percent said illicit substances were easy to acquire behind bars.

Mr Taylor also found the number of assaults in the jail was up by 45 percent on the last inspection, "with much of this likely to be driven by the illicit economy and subsequent debt".

He discovered 17 prisoners had been refusing to leave their cells, with many inmates fearing for their lives over drug debts. Seven of those had been isolating for more than seven months, without showering or getting any fresh air.

He said: "Isolating prisoners received very little time out of cell and most did not have daily access to a shower or fresh air," he added.

The 845 capacity facility is intended to be a training prison which provides education to its inmates. But HMP Garth is unable to fulfil this duty as a result of frequent lockdowns to prevent mass brawls and violent outbreaks across the 816 prisoners.

The majority of those jailed here are serving long or indeterminate sentences, and the inmates agree with prison staff that drugs is one of the main causes of violence in the jail.

Mr Taylor added: "Too many prisoners were locked behind their cell doors for hours. Even those who were employed had only been offered part-time work."

He also slammed the poor physical condition of the prison, describing "leaking roofs, peeling floors, and parts of the older wings in an advanced state of dilapidation".

And it's not just HMP Garth facing this issue. The use of drug-smuggling via drones is rife across British prisons.

In Merseyside one drone drop was apprehended in the early hours of yesterday morning as police released sniffer to track down the pilot who had attached a haul of mobile phones, sim cards, tobacco and drill bits to his drone over HMP Liverpool.

Earlier this year, a couple were jailed for making more than 100 drops across UK prisons from as far north as Edinburgh and far south as Dorset.

Sajad Hashimi, 27, flew his DJI Phantom 4 into prisons 78 times between August 2022 and October last year while his wife Zerka Maranay hired cars to help getaway.

The damning report in Lancashire follows worrying figures on the number of assaults against prison officers, which have reached a new high, rising reoffending rates and a record number of freed criminals being recalled to jail.

Prisons minister Lord Timpson said the figures showed the scale of the crisis the new Labour government has 'inherited' from the Tories.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "The new Government inherited a prison system in crisis and reports like these demonstrate the need for robust action to get the situation back under control.

"We have zero tolerance towards violence and drugs and our security measures, such as X-ray body scanners and anti-drone no-fly zones, detect and stop drugs from entering our prisons."