Garth prison likened to ‘airport’ over number of drones flying in to deliver drugs
A prison has been become like an “airport” with drugs being brought in by drones through holes burned in cell windows, an inmate has told inspectors.
A watchdog has warned HMP Garth, in Lancashire, which holds serious offenders, is “facing major security issues” and a “breakdown in safety and security”.
Inspectors found prisoners had been using the elements from their kettles to burn holes in their “inadequately protected” Perspex windows to allow the “entry of drones laden with contraband”, while the “smell of cannabis was rife”.
Some 63% of the men held in the category B jail who were surveyed said it was easy to get hold of drugs with one saying: “This is now an airport.”
Prisoners burn holes in their windows Pic: HM Inspectorate of Prisons
Drones deliver drugs through holes in cell windows Pic: HM Inspectorate of Prisons
Inspectors found prisoners were damaging their windows faster than they could be repaired with 13 cells found with holes, including five which were still occupied, on the first day of the visit.
They also said oversight and searching, including accounting for mops and brooms used to collect drugs from drones, was “weak”.
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said: “Garth holds some very serious offenders. Although the governor had a good understanding of the many challenges the prison faced, without better support from the regional team and the prison service it will continue to be a jail of real concern.
“It is imperative that the prison service finds a way to stem the ingress of drones to reduce the supply of drugs into prisons like Garth, so they can begin to reduce violence and get men out of their cells and into a full day’s work and training.
“Staff attendance and capability will need to improve significantly and without substantial investment from the prison service, drugs will continue to flow into this troubled jail.”
A man was arrested after staff at HMP Liverpool spotted a drone Pic: Merseyside Police
In January, 400-metre restricted fly zones were introduced around all closed prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales, while there have been more than 90 drone-related convictions since June 2016.
A 36-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of Monday after staff at HMP Liverpool spotted a drone trying to land in the prison courtyard.
The package was found to contain cannabis resin, tobacco, mobile phones notes, drill bits and SIM cards, Merseyside Police said.
At the time of the HMP Garth inspection, the training prison held 816 prisoners mostly serving long or indeterminate sentences.
The rate of assaults had soared by 45% since the last inspection, with many inmates needing protection because of drug-related debt.
Inspectors found some parts of the prison were dilapidated and new arrivals said they were being forced to pay other prisoners to get missing furniture for their cells.
The report also highlights high levels of staff sickness, insufficient training and an unwillingness to challenge prisoner rule-breaking, as well as poor staff morale.
Mops and brooms used to retrieve drugs from drones Pic: HM Inspectorate of Prisons
”A prison system in crisis’
It comes weeks after a damning report found category B Winchester prison was so “dilapidated” an inmate was able to remove his own cell door.
Chief executive of the social justice charity Nacro, Campbell Robb, said the issues the latest report highlights are “symptomatic of wider crisis” across the prison system.
“HMP Garth is another example of how without significant reform, we risk perpetuating a vicious cycle of violence and hopelessness within our prisons, undermining both public safety and the potential for rehabilitation in the long-term,” he said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson 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.”
Sky News can reveal that the government has rowed back on a national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, despite it being promised under the previous Conservative administration.
Warning – this story contains references to sexual and physical abuse
A National Redress Scheme was one of 20 key recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), but a Home Office report reveals the government has scrapped it because of the cost.
Marie, who is 71, suffered alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at Greenfield House Convent in St Helens, Merseyside, between 1959 and 1962, and is still fighting for compensation.
Greenfield House Convent, where Marie says she was abused
As soon as she arrived as a six-year-old, Marie says her hair was cut off, her name changed, and she experienced regular beatings from the nuns and students.
She claims a nun instigated the violence, including when Marie was held down so that her legs were “spread-eagled” as she was sexually abused with a coat hanger.
Merseyside Police investigated claims of abuse at the convent, but in 2016, a suspect died before charges could be brought.
Marie has received an apology from the Catholic body that ran the home; she tried to sue them, but her claim was rejected because it was filed too long after the alleged abuse.
Marie, 71, is still fighting for compensation for the abuse she says she suffered as a child
In February, ministers said the law would change for victims of sexual abuse trying to sue institutions for damages, which was a recommendation from the IICSA.
Previously, people had to make a civil claim before they were 21, unless the victim could prove a fair trial could proceed despite the time lapse.
Campaigners argued for the time limit to be removed as, on average, victims wait 26 years to come forward. Changes to the 1980 Limitation Act could lead to more people making claims.
Peter Garsden, President of The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
Civil cases ‘can take three to five years’
But Peter Garsden, president of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, worries that when it comes to historical abuse where the defendant is dead, institutions will still argue that it is impossible to have a fair trial and will fight to have the case thrown out of court.
Mr Garsden said it takes “between three and five years” for a civil case to get to trial.
He warned that claimants “can end up losing if you go through that process. Whereas the Redress Scheme would be quicker, much more straightforward, and much more likely to give justice to the victims”.
Victim awarded £10 compensation
Jimbo, who was a victim of abuse at St Aidan’s children’s home in Cheshire, took his case to the High Court twice and the Court of Appeal three times, but, after 13 years, all he ended up with was £10 for his bus fare to court.
Despite the Lord Justice of Appeal saying he believed that the abuse had occurred, Jimbo lost his claim because of the time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be made.
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Neither Marie nor Jimbo is likely to benefit from the removal of the time limit for personal injury claims, which is why Mr Garsden is calling on the government to implement a National Redress Scheme for victims of sexual abuse, as recommended by the IICSA.
Hundreds of millions paid to victims
The governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland have set up compensation schemes and paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims.
In 2023, the then Conservative government said a similar scheme would be organised for England and Wales.
But the Home Office admitted in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Progress Update that it “is not currently taking forward any further steps on the IICSA proposal for a separate, national financial redress scheme for all survivors of child sexual abuse”.
“In the current fiscal environment, this recommendation is very difficult to take forward,” it added.
For victims, the scheme was the last chance of compensation for a lifetime blighted by abuse.
“The money is about justice and about all the other people who have had to suffer this abuse,” Marie said.
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