Fears that drones could drop guns into prisons

A UK prisons watchdog has released a statement warning that drones used to deliver weapons to two of England's highest security prisons have become a national security risk.

Charlie Taylor, the UK chief inspector of prisons, said that drone drops of contraband at HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin prisons, in Worcestershire have become regular enough that guns could be smuggled in, says the BBC.

The two jails hold some of the most dangerous men in the country including terrorists, murderers and organised crime gang bosses.

He told BBC News the prison authorities had "ceded the airspace" over the jails and there was an increasing risk of armed violence, escapes and hostage-takings.

Taylor's warnings come in damning reports into the respective conditions at the maximum security jails.

His inspection teams found serious and repeated failings of security and safety, with clear evidence of gangs arranging delivery by air of items including weapons, drugs and phones to inmates.

"This is a threat to national security," said Taylor.

"The potential for serious weapons to be able to get into our prisons in increasing numbers means that there is a risk, particularly with these Category A prisons, particularly with some of the riskiest men in the country who are either connected to organised crime gangs or they're terrorists.

"The potential for them to be able to commit serious offences within prison, or potentially to be able to escape or to cause something like a hostage situation is an enormous concern."

Taylor said gangs were now using drones carrying payloads of up to 3lb (1.3kg) of contraband into prison.

Inmates had organised the delivery of "Zombie knives" and firearms could follow.

"Knives indeed are getting in," he said. "It's entirely possible that if somebody was determined enough they could get a gun in.

"If a weapon is able to be got into a prison, then the prisoner can use that to potentially take hostages or to threaten staff in order to be able to get towards the gate.

"There is also the possibility that someone could be picked up by a drone.

"It's unlikely but... this is something that the prison service, the police and security services will have to be all over.

"In effect, what we're seeing is that the airspace above our prisons, holding some of the most risky men in the country, is being ceded to organised crime gangs."

The reports reveal that at both Manchester and Long Lartin there were failures of CCTV and anti-drone netting.

Officers at Manchester would see the devices regularly circling the jail at night.

Inmates had been breaking holes in £5,000 cell windows faster than they could be repaired and using phone GPS apps to guide deliveries to exact locations.

At Long Lartin, which holds men convicted of terrorism offences, gangs drop contraband from drones in black plastic bags.

These are indistinguishable from bags of human waste thrown out of cell windows - meaning inmates can easily pick them up by joining litter patrols.

Some gangs were hiding contraband in balls of grass to camouflage them if they fell on lawns.

The prisons watchdog issued an urgent notification about conditions at Manchester in October, saying it was amongst the most violent jails in the country.

That alert made it the fifth prison in a year to require an emergency response from ministers.

The Ministry of Justice says it has already acted on that by improving security, with a new CCTV system and anti-drone netting.

"This Government inherited prisons in crisis," said a spokesman.

"We are gripping the situation by investing in prison maintenance and security, working with the police and others to tackle serious organised crime, and building more prison places to lock up dangerous criminals."