Prisoners in some of UK’s toughest jails are to be scanned for drugs in major crackdown on contraband behind bars
- Ministers announced new £28million fund to install the technology at 16 prisons
- The scanners will show up illegal substances, mobiles and weapons
- A trial of the device at one jail led to 300 illegal items being found in its first year
Prisoners will face X-ray scans for drugs and contraband hidden inside their bodies in a major crackdown.
Ministers announced a new £28million fund to install the technology at 16 prisons with bad smuggling problems.
The scanners show up illegal substances, mobiles and weapons hidden in body cavities or swallowed.
Prisoners will face X-ray scans for drugs and contraband hidden inside their bodies in a major crackdown. HMP Leeds (pictured) already has the equipment installed
A trial at one jail led to 300 illegal items being found in its first year.
Prisons minister Lucy Frazer said: ‘They will help to stem the flow of contraband and allow officers to focus on rehabilitation.’
The scanners have been developed specifically for the Prison Service and produce far more detailed images than have been available to jail security staff until now.
The kit will be put in HMP Exeter, Durham, Preston, Liverpool, Birmingham, Hewell in Worcestershire, Lincoln, Bedford, Norwich, Chelmsford, Winchester, Elmley in Kent, London’s Pentonville and Wandsworth (pictured), Bristol and Cardiff
HMP Leeds Governor Steve Robson, which already has the equipment, said: ‘It has been a real game changer.’
The kit will be put in HMP Exeter, Durham, Preston, Liverpool, Birmingham, Hewell in Worcestershire, Lincoln, Bedford, Norwich, Chelmsford, Winchester, Elmley in Kent, London’s Pentonville and Wandsworth, Bristol and Cardiff.
They will then be rolled out to almost every male jail in England and Wales.