The UK’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, says drone deliveries of drugs and weapons into facilities housing high-risk prisoners have become a national security threat. Taylor warned that the airspace above prisons is being ceded to organised crime groups.
The findings come from two reports, released on January 14, following unannounced inspections at HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin last year.
“At Manchester prisoners were burning holes in supposedly secure windows so they could continue to receive regular deliveries by drone,” The HMP Manchester report states. “Some of these had increasingly large payloads, which had the potential to lead to serious disruption and potential escape.”
The inspection at HMP Manchester found that weaknesses in physical and procedural security allowed large quantities of drugs and other illicit items including weapons to be delivered by drones. The report found that organised criminal groups led this activity, with some having international connections and support. In the last year there had been 220 drone sightings at HMP Manchester – by far the highest across all prisons in England and Wales.
Inspectors found that the CCTV system at HMP Manchester was not fully working and there was poor quality security netting over exercise yards. In addition, broken windows allowed illicit items to be delivered to cells, which could then be passed on to other cells and wings. The report notes that funding for better and more secure cell windows had been approved in 2021 but “hardly any had been installed and it had only taken a couple of days for prisoners to find a way of melting the panes”.
Local leaders have struggled to intercept the drones. But the report notes that a combination of excellent intelligence management and joint working with local and national policing units had enabled the arrests of some drone pilots, seizures of drones and interception of packages (some weighing more than 7kg). “Corrupt staff also posed a high risk but the governor did not shy away from this issue and some convictions had been achieved,” the report states.
The inspection at HMP Long Lartin also found that large quantities of drugs and other illicit items were entering the prison by drone. “Physical security and counter measures were not robust enough, and neither national nor local leaders had addressed this longstanding problem with sufficient urgency,” the HMP Long Lartin report states, adding that the situation could not be countered effectively without urgent investment in physical security to improve detection and deterrence.
“It is highly alarming that the police and prison service have, in effect ceded the airspace above two high-security prisons to organised crime gangs which are able to deliver contraband to jails holding extremely dangerous prisoners including some who have been designated as high-risk category A,” Chief Inspector Taylor said. “The safety of staff, prisoners and ultimately that of the public, is seriously compromised by the failure to tackle what has become a threat to national security. The prison service, the police and other security services must urgently confront organised gang activity and reduce the supply of drugs and other illicit items which so clearly undermine every aspect of prison life.”
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Image: Photograph from the HMP Manchester report showing a hole burned through a cell window.
