Drones with drugs pose 'major challenge' to prison

1 hour ago

Matthew LockwoodBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire

News image — Staff at HMP The Mount maintain constant vigilance for drones overhead, said the Independent Monitoring Board

Getty Images A multi-rotor drone flying in the sky while carrying a package suspended beneath its frame. The photograph is taken from below the drone, looking upward toward a clear blue sky. — Staff at HMP The Mount maintain constant vigilance for drones overhead, said the Independent Monitoring Board

The rise in sophisticated drones has created a "major challenge" at a prison, a report has found.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said the number of prisoners collapsing after taking drugs smuggled with the device into HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, remained high.

In one incident, the IMB said a drone carrying a significant quantity of contraband was "captured by a determined officer who lay on the device".

Although the prison had introduced a number of anti-drone measures, the report said staff needed to take more preventative action, including repairing security cameras and replacing windows.

The report also highlighted a number of other challenges at the prison.

It said there were 11 recorded occasions when staff were assaulted by prisoners in September last year. The IMB said attacks on staff usually occurred during periods of heightened tension and involved officers being punched, bitten, or having various liquids thrown at them.

Simon Clarke, chair of the prison's IMB, said: "It remains the case that the fundamental issues affecting HMP The Mount, and prisons more widely, are simply not being addressed – with the same message echoed in the 2025 IMB national annual report."

Getty Images Inmates at HMP The Mount. They are sitting on a wall in front of a red brick coloured building.

In October, there was a "very serious violent incident" in which a prisoner sustained a serious wound after being attacked by another inmate.

The report said staff and paramedics responded promptly and provided emergency medical care.

However, the inspectors added, "the culture that is being introduced and maintained by staff has improved the general atmosphere to the extent that the prison does not emanate a feeling of violence as you walk around".

'MoJ support inadequate'

The report acknowledged that the governor, the management team and staff had worked hard to improve the situation at the prison, but the offender management unit was "yet again, significantly short of staff, leaving more than 20% of prisoners still waiting to be assigned a prison offender manager".

Clarke added: "In the opinion of the Board, the support from HM Prison and Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice is inadequate, with many fundamental issues unaddressed and exacerbated by action or inaction."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "This report recognises the hard work of staff at HMP The Mount, whose efforts are helping to put prisons on a more stable footing.

"We know prisons need more support, which is why former Home Secretary Amber Rudd is leading an independent review of the prison system.

"The review will help tackle longstanding problems and develop a long-term plan to build safer prisons, reduce reoffending and better protect the public."

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