'Prisons should be places of rehabilitation and not warehouses of despair'

A watchdog has warned that jails are being destablised by high levels of drugs being smuggled in by criminal gangs

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THE overwhelming amount of drugs being smuggled into jails is destabilising prisons and preventing work to stop re-offending, a watchdog has warned.

Criminal gangs are often using sophisticated drones to target jails and sell contraband to vulnerable inmates, according to the chief inspector of prisons' annual report.

Charlie Taylor previously warned that drones dropping drugs at high-security jails HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin was a 'threat to national security, and he repeated calls on Tuesday for the threat to be taken seriously 'at the highest levels of Government.

The watchdog boss said: "This has been another very difficult year for prisons in England and Wales with the ingress of contraband delivered by drones severely impacting the essential work that many have been able to do with prisoners.

"The challenge for the prison service must be to work in conjunction with the police and security services to manage prisoners associated with organised crime. This is a threat that needs to be taken seriously at the highest levels of Government.