'Alarming' flow of drugs into scandal-hit prison

A lucrative 10-year contract was at the root of many problems at Parc Prison, Bridgend, a report has found

- CONOR GOGARTY

A DAMNING report into Bridgend’s Parc prison has found a failure to tackle an “alarming” flow of drugs that led to “a spate of tragic deaths”.

The inspection concluded that standards had “declined significantly” from 2022 because of private security giant G4S winning a 10-year contract to run the jail.

Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor pointed to serious deficiencies including cell windows that can be easily opened from inside, allowing drugs to be pulled in from drones - a problem previously revealed by the Gazette.

Last year there were 17 inmate deaths at Parc - more than any other UK prison - of which five were drug-related, three self-inflicted, eight of natural causes, and one of unknown causes.

Nearly a third of random drug test results were positive, some 57% of prisoners said it was easy to get illegal drugs, and 34% had developed a drug or alcohol problem since arriving at the prison, which has a population of around 1,700 inmates.

A cluster of five drug deaths between February and May last year were “likely” caused by synthetic opioids, according to the report.

The report reads: “With staff morale low, and higher levels of sickness and more staff leaving than could be recruited, the effects of poor supervision and a thriving drug market contributed to high levels of violence.”

At the previous inspection in 2022 the jail received a generally positive report including a “reasonably good” rating for safety. But that same year G4S won a £400m decade-long contract and then allowed the prison to be “destabilised”, according to the new inspection report, which dubbed this contract “the root” of many of the jail’s problems.

The report found leadership suffered after the 2023 retirement of “highly effective” longstanding governor Janet Wallsgrove.