{"id":562640,"date":"2025-11-11T02:22:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T02:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/562640\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T02:22:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T02:22:16","slug":"hmp-liverpool-continuously-targeted-by-gangs-using-drones-as-drugs-come-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/562640\/","title":{"rendered":"HMP Liverpool ‘continuously targeted’ by gangs using drones as drugs come ‘easy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons published today, Monday, found ‘serious organised crime gangs’ are ‘frequently using drones’ to deliver contraband into the jail\"FencesFences and walls at HMP Liverpool have been described as “vulnerable” by inspectors as the prison is flooded with drugs delivered by drone. (Image: HM Inspectorate of Prisons)<\/p>\n

HMP Liverpool is being \u201ccontinuously targeted\u201d by organised crime groups<\/a> using drones to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and other contraband into the prison. The Victorian jail in Walton<\/a> features in the top 10 nationally for drone incursions, with a watchdog saying the security of windows and exercise yards needing \u201csignificant investment\u201d to disrupt \u201cunacceptable levels of criminality<\/a>\u201d at the prison.<\/a><\/p>\n

A report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons published today, Monday, found \u201cserious organised crime gangs\u201d are \u201cfrequently using drones\u201d to deliver contraband into the jail. The inspector described prisoners “lying on their beds watching daytime TV and taking drugs to pass the time”<\/a> as almost half of inmates said it was \u201ceasy\u201d to get their hands on drugs inside the jail.<\/p>\n

The prison has the highest rate of positive drug tests of any reception prison in England and Wales. The Inspectorate reported that prison leaders are \u201cworking hard to reduce the ingress of drugs\u201d, but that the prison \u201cremained too vulnerable to drone activity and other supply channels”.<\/p>\n

The inspector wrote: \u201cWithout a significant investment from the prison service in improving the security of windows and exercise yards, Liverpool will continue to be disrupted by unacceptable levels of criminality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The illicit drug economy inside the jail \u201cposed an ongoing threat to the \u201csafety and stability of the prison\u201d<\/a>. Since the prison was last inspected in 2022, it has been recategorised as a \u201creception prison\u201d, with many prisoners on remand or recently convicted.<\/p>\n

The inspector added: \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The change in role for the prison has led to an \u201cincreased number of prisoners from organised crime groups using more sophisticated methods to supply drugs and phones into the prison”.<\/p>\n

The prison had been on the brink of extensive refurbishment of \u201cold and dilapidated buildings\u201d in 2022, but the work stalled completely when the company contracted to do the work went bust.<\/p>\n

The inspector highlighted \u201cserious deficiencies in routine maintenance work\u201d.<\/p>\n

The government said it had “inherited a prison system in crisis”, and that it was investing \u00a340m in new security measures this year, including \u00a310m on anti-drone measures such as exterior netting and reinforced windows.<\/p>\n

Aside from drones, the inspector described the prison walls and fences as \u201cvulnerable\u201d, with packages of drugs and other contraband being slung over the wall from the street.<\/p>\n

Prison leaders had worked with the community to improve intelligence on such incidents, and many such packages had been intercepted; but the problem was described as \u201coverwhelming\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: \u201cThis government inherited a prison system in crisis – with drugs and violence rife. While we welcome inspectors\u2019 recognition of HMP Liverpool\u2019s progress to drive down violence, we acknowledge there is more to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are taking action by investing \u00a340m in new security measures this year alone to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars – including \u00a310m on anti-drone measures such as exterior netting and reinforced windows.<\/p>\n

“On top of this, the prison is taking immediate action to support staff through bolstered training and mentoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have experience of HMP Liverpool? Contact jonathan.blackburn@reachplc.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons published today, Monday, found ‘serious organised crime gangs’ are ‘frequently using…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,188,393,4884,16182,179,16,15,9597],"class_list":{"0":"post-562640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-hmp-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-walton"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115528686850287920","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}