Prison acts on drug smuggling

Early evening visiting sessions were scrapped last month and moved to late afternoon.

Prison Governor David Matthews said the change helped the drug problem considerably.

‘It’s not a huge problem but it’s one we need to try and resolve,’ he said. ‘It’s one that all prisons have and its something that we are working at.’

A Skyfence system that was installed at Les Nicolles last year to prevent drones flying over and dropping things had worked well and other security measures had been implemented to prevent things being thrown over the fence.

‘People will always try and smuggle drugs into prisons,’ said Mr Matthews. ‘When you eliminate one opportunity, some will always look for another.’

The switch of times meant more resources were now available at visiting sessions and this had helped deal with the threat from illicit drugs. Sessions were always labour intensive whether there was 10 people visiting or 30. It also meant that prison officers could focus on managing the wings and the prison more during the early evenings.

‘The problem we have at the moment is with diverted pharmaceuticals which can be difficult to deal with.’

Those intent on smuggling them into a prison would always manage to produce a prescription which made the job harder.

A drug problem in a prison would never be alleviated completely, according to Mr Matthews.

‘Our focus is on supply reduction and it’s something that we work very closely with police on,’ he said.

He thought the change in visiting times had gone down well for the majority of people but there were always exceptions.

‘There are still visiting sessions seven days a week and we do our best to accommodate people for whom their might be difficulties,’ he said.

‘Visiting people in prison is not something that people will have to do permanently either.’