Prisoners are 'lying on beds watching TV and taking drugs to pass the time'

NEW REPORT CLAIMS HMP LIVERPOOL HAS SEEN HIGHEST RATE OF POSITIVE DRUG TESTS IN UK

- By JONATHAN BLACKBURN

PRISONERS at HMP Liverpool are "lying on their beds watching daytime TV and taking drugs to pass the time", according to a new report.

The prison has seen the highest rate of positive drug tests of any jail of its kind nationally, with 46% of drug tests coming back positive, with the supply described as a "significant threat to the prison".

The Walton jail was visited by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in August, and was found to have the highest rate of positive drug tests for any reception prison in England and Wales.

Inspectors found the prison had been "continuously targeted" by serious organised crime groups delivering drugs into the prison by drone.

In the report, published yesterday, the inspector wrote that, "without significant investment" in improving the security of windows and exercise yards, HMP Liverpool "will continue to be disrupted by unacceptable levels of criminality." The illicit drug economy inside the jail "posed an ongoing threat" to the "safety and stability of the prison".

It was added in the report that: "The ingress of drugs and the change in population are likely to have been significant factors in the increases of violence recorded since the re-role of the jail."

A survey conducted by the prisons inspectorate found almost half of prisoners said it was "easy" to get illicit drugs at HMP Liverpool. The inspector noted that there are "too many men at Liverpool lying on their beds watching daytime television and taking drugs to pass the time."

Since the last inspection in 2022, HMP Liverpool has been recategorised as a "reception prison", which is a facility where new inmates first go after being sent from court. Many of the prisoners are also on remand or being processed at Liverpool after conviction.