Use of drugs and violence too high in city's prison

DOWNGRADED IN TWO AREAS, BUT INSPECTORS FIND POSITIVES

- By STAFF REPORTER

VIOLENCE and positive drugs tests at a prison are too high, inspectors have found.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons carried out an unannounced inspection of HMP Leicester in August. At the time, it had 328 prisoners against a certified normal capacity of 217.

It found performance in safety and purposeful activity had deteriorated since the previous inspection, in 2023.

Safety was rated not sufficiently good and purposeful activity poor, the lowest category.

Respect and preparation for release were graded reasonably good.

The report's authors said: "High turnover and the transience of the population shaped much of what we found.