Sheppey prison slammed for drug use and violence

Campaigners says the problems at HMP Swaleside reflect the entire prison system.  Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00Still, not safe enough. That is the verdict of a new report into HMP Swellside from the

00:07Chief Inspector of Prisons. Located on the Isle of Sheppey, the recent inspection was

00:13the sixth to have taken place since 2016. Key findings include the fact 14 deaths have

00:21occurred behind bars in the last two years, seven of which were self-inflicted. With violence

00:29still too high, drug use on the rise and prisoners locked in their cells due to staff

00:36shortages. What we're seeing here are problems that are replicated in prisons across England

00:42and Wales. It is far from a problem specific to Swellside. Of course, it's concerning that

00:48the inspectorate have done numerous reports and not found the progress that they require.

00:53And I'm sure that there are questions that managers and staff at Swellside will want

00:58to address. It doesn't let them entirely off the hook, but they are far from alone

01:02in facing these problems. And ultimately, that's why we need to see action from central

01:07government to ease the pressures in the system as a whole, so that hardworking staff and

01:12managers can get on top of the issues that they face. And so that Swellside can start

01:17to do a better job of preparing people for release and hopefully turning their lives

01:22away from crime. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson says the new government has inherited a justice

01:29system in crisis and has been forced to take action across the prison estate. They say

01:36they have a zero tolerance approach to drugs and the security measures such as x-ray body

01:41scanners and anti-drone no-fly zones, stop drugs and mobile phones from entering our

01:49prisons. But with so many areas of concern still unresolved, there's more work to be

01:55done. Oliver Leader of the SACS reporting for KMTV.