Inmates at Brixton Prison smoked so much cannabis during an inspection that the guards’ and the assessors’ clothes smelt of it, an official watchdog report has revealed.
The Independent Monitoring Board called it a “significant failure” and said not enough action was taken by the prison to tackle the drug problems after they discovered in the autumn of 2012 that the supply was coming from men who were on temporary release.
Mobile phones were also “readily available” and the board said that “both drugs and phones increase the possibility for debt, victimisation, and bullying.”
The board blames the failure to deal with the problems successfully on lack of co-ordination between the different parts of the prison and on lack of resources.
Due to staff shortage drug tests could not always be carried out and the prison only has one sniffer dog at its disposal.
Brixton Prison status changed from a local prison to a resettlement prison in 2012. The report claims the illegal possessions problem has aggravated since then, saying that “there have been more prisoners at a time reduced to basic privileges than when Brixton was a local prison”.
By the end of the reporting year, however, there had been a reduction in the drug supply.
A Prison Service spokesman told the Evening Standard that the use of drugs was taken “very seriously” and that “swift action” had been taken to tackle the problems at Brixton.
He added: “The number of prisoners testing positive for drug misuse has fallen. Offenders are well aware that anyone caught with prohibited items will face swift and robust punishment.”
What sort of a prison are they running? In my opinion this makes a mockery of the penal system. Our NHS, education system, our care for the elderly and care for the young and vulnerable this country is turning out one sad and shocking statistic after another. Shameful.