Prison 'target' for organised crime gangs - bosses

The director for HMP Birmingham, Richard Stedman, was speaking in response to an inspection report which revealed more than half of prisoners say they had an easy access to drugs.

The G4S facility, formerly known as Winson Green, was the subject of 74 recommendations in the report by Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke.

As well as prisoners having access to drugs, the report urged bosses to clamp down on methods to bring the substances in to the jail.

It also highlighted problems with detainees taking part in training and education programmes.

Among the positives, inspectors found 'good partnership work' with West Midlands Police, which last month saw a man charged with using drones to fly drugs into the facility.

The inspection took place six weeks after disturbances in December 2016, which led to 500 prisoners being moved out to allow four severely damaged wings to be refurbished.

This week the damaged wings fully reopen and the availability of prison places returns to 1,450, the level before the disturbance.

Mr Stedman, who was appointed in April 2017, said: “The report is a fair assessment of the very real challenges we face at HMP Birmingham.

"Like many other local city-centre prisons, we are a target for organised crime gangs who try to smuggle drugs into our facility.

"Drones are a constant threat and although we have a strong partnership with West Midlands Police to prosecute those who try to get contraband in, we are looking at new technology to help us to thwart this pernicious trade that undermines safety and feeds violence, debt and bullying."

He added: “We are also committed to recruiting additional prison officers and by September we are aiming to have 30 more prison officers than our target for the establishment.

"We have also changed the regime to improve staff and prisoner safety. These measures will help us to reduce staff turnover, set firm boundaries for prisoners and improve consistency in challenging poor or unacceptable behaviour by those who turn to violence."

Inspector Peter Clarke said: “The leadership of the prison was clearly committed to meeting the many challenges presented by this large and complex establishment.

"The events of December 2016 had had a profound effect upon many members of staff.

"There was still, some two months later, a palpable sense of shock at the suddenness and ferocity of what had happened. Despite this, there was a very clear determination on the part of leadership and staff to move on from the disorder, rebuild and make progress."