Tag: jails

£35 million government funding boost to stop drones smuggling contraband into prisons

Up to 13,000 prison cell windows across England and Wales will be fitted with heavy-duty steel grilles to stop drones smuggling drugs, weapons and mobile phones into jails

  • New counter-drone measures  at  17 prisons at high risk from drones
  • Up to 13,000 cell windows to be reinforced with grilles to thwart criminals smuggling illicit items
  • Part of Government action to ensure prisons cut crime and protect the public    

Up to 13,000 prison cell windows across England and Wales will be fitted with heavy-duty steel grilles to stop drones smuggling drugs, weapons and mobile phones into jails.

The roll out, backed by £35m of government funding, will see physical security strengthened at 17 high-risk prisons vulnerable to drone activity. The funding will help to crackdown on criminal gangs exploiting jails with increasingly sophisticated drone operations.  

The investment includes installing thousands of grilles to cell windows by spring next year – providing a tough physical barrier to block the delivery of contraband which can wreak havoc behind bars.      

Many of the grilles will be manufactured by prisoners themselves - helping to cut costs and giving offenders skills for the job market so they can leave crime behind.   

It comes as crooks are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their approach with drone sightings around prisons increasing by 770% between 2019 and 2023, not only undermining rehabilitation efforts but threatening the safety of both staff and prisoners.    

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, said:  Drone smuggling fuels violence  debt and disorder in our prisons. It wrecks rehabilitation and puts lives at risk.

“This new investment will further bolster prison defences against drones, building on our work with police to catch and prosecute the criminal gangs responsible. 

“To the criminal gangs using drones to target our prisons, my message is clear: we are shutting down your routes, disrupting your operations and bringing offenders to justice.”

Today’s announcement builds on £40 million already invested by the Government to strengthen prison security, including £10 million specifically on counter-drone measures such as external netting and wires.    

A large-scale joint operation between the police and HMPPS has already resulted in over 200 arrests linked to drones smuggling contraband into our prisons.   

In March, a gang that used drones to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into prisons were sentenced to a combined 22 years’ imprisonment, thanks to an investigation by the Metropolitan Police in partnership with the Prison Service.    

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Countering the Threat from Drones in Prisons, Steff Sharp said: We welcome this investment as it aligns with our continued pursuit of those using drones to smuggle weapons, drugs, phones and other contraband into prisons.

“These items fuel organised crime, impact local communities and increase the risk of violence towards staff and inmates within prison walls.

“Counter drone activity is complex which is why we are committed to working closely with HMPPS and other partners to make sure this criminality is prevented, intercepted and offenders brought to justice.”

Today’s investment supports wider Government efforts to develop counter-drone capabilities, including by learning from Ukrainian expertise developed on the battlefield and from innovators through a competition launched this year to tackle the illegal use of drones in prisons.   

More broadly the Government plans to build 14,000 extra places nationwide by 2031 – with 3,100 already added since July 2024 – to keep streets safer and ensure the country never runs out of prison space again.

How Are We Tackling the Drone Threat in UK Prisons?

Independent review of sentencing and penal policy

In-depth look at how best to deal with offending behaviour

Identifying the most effective ways to address offending behaviour so there is less crime and fewer victims will be at the heart of an independent review of sentencing and penal policy, the Justice Secretary has announced.

The externally led review will examine how and when custodial sentences and community interventions are used, how effective these are and what more can be done to prevent crime and reduce reoffending.

While sentencing in individual cases is always for Scotland’s independent courts, the review will consider the range of community interventions available to judges and sheriffs and whether these should be expanded.

To encourage greater use of ‘robust community-based interventions’ there will be also be increased investment of £14 million in community justice in 2024-25, bringing the total investment in community justice to £148 million this year.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Protecting victims and the public from harm is my absolute priority and prison will always be necessary as part of that. However, we must recognise that, while appropriate in many cases, short prison sentences are often not the best way to reduce reoffending, with those released from short custodial sentences reconvicted nearly twice as often as those sentenced to a community payback order.

“Therefore an externally led review of sentencing and penal policy will allow us to re-visit the fundamental question of how imprisonment and community-based sentences are used. We must do more to develop community interventions with increased breadth and depth, so that the courts have a greater selection of options to deal robustly and constructively with the individuals before them.

“The prison population in Scotland remains too high and the needs of those in prison are increasingly complex. While a range of work is underway to respond to this, we also need to understand and address its root causes.

“The aim of this review is not about reducing the prison population as an end in itself, but ensuring that custody is used for the right people at the right time.”