Prisons on the Isle of Sheppey are under 'constant attack from organiser crime' says Kent MP
It's after a report this week found that drones were being used to deliver drugs and weapons to some prisons in the UK.
A Kent MP has told us that the prisons on the Isle of Sheppey are under 'constant assault from organised crime'.
It follows on from a report this week that found drones were being used to deliver drugs and weapons to some prisons in the UK.
A watchdog warned it was a 'threat to national security, with Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor accusing the police and Government of giving up control of the airspace above HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire.
He called on them and the security services to "urgently confront" activity from criminal gangs behind the supply. The findings were published on Tuesday after inspections at the two prisons in September and October, he raised serious concerns over safety and basic security, describing the jails as having "thriving" drug economies with nets and CCTV being allowed to fall into "disrepair".
And, Kevin McKenna, the MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, spoke to Greatest Hits Radio, confirming that the prisons on the Isle of Sheppey (HM Prison Swaleside, HMP Elmley and HMP Stanford Hill) encounter the same issues.
He said: "When I talk to prison officers and people that work there, it's not just drones but it's also the fact that they are under constant assault from organised crime, trying to get drugs and other contraband into prisons, finding all sorts of ways to get round security and around the way that prison officers work.
"And the issues that hamper officers are the fact that the prison state has been allowed to degrade such as poor maintenance which is quite frankly over expensive and over bureaucratic
"The staff are also not getting the support they need, not just in terms of basic practical support but things that they need to keep prisoner behaviour safe and working well."
In terms of the long term impacts this could have, Kevin McKenna said: "Prisons are a ready market for this drugs gangs and the risks are that people come out and instead of being rehabilitated, learning new skills, they learn the opposite and possibly wind up with a drug addiction. "