Footage of the moment a drone drops a large suspected drugs package into the grounds of HMP Wandsworth has been released.
The video, at around 3.30am on June 21, shows an aircraft hovering above the category B men’s prison housing sex offenders and terrorists, before seemingly dropping the item into the courtyard.
The south London prison has been plagued by various scandals, including an officer jailed last year for making X-rated content with an inmate.
Tom Wheatley, President of the Prison Governors Association told BBC Newsnight that drone use was a ‘significant and growing problem in prisons’ that is happening ‘every day’.
He said: This probably started around 2012, 2013. We started to see contraband entry in prisons by drones around that time and now this is happening every day … it’s happening on multiple occasions in some prisons during a 24-hour period and in multiple prisons around the country on the same evening.
‘It is shocking because we have been able to rely on the measures that we normally take to prevent things coming into prison. So: searching of people; restrictions about access to prisons. We’ve been able to deal with the way that criminals try to get drugs into prison.
‘We’ve basically now got a gaping hole in our ability to prevent that, and drugs coming into prison don’t just cause harm to prisoners who take them, there’s a whole illicit economy – and violence and enforcement – that goes with that, that make prisons less safe and us less likely to be able to rehabilitate people in them.
Mr Wheatley also warned of the prospect that guns could be dropped in, saying there is ‘no practical reason’ why the drones, which can carry items up to 10 kilos, couldn’t deliver the weapons to prisons.
The video captured last June shows the aircraft (above) hovering above the category B men’s prison
Captured at around 3.30am, the drone them seemingly drops an item into the courtyard
The item (circled) vanished behind the walls of the prison and out of view, sparking fears over what it may contain
He added: We have yet to encounter [guns], we think. We’ve certainly not discovered [them] in prisons in recent years – guns have made their way into prisons before. The Whitemoor escape involved prisoners having access and shooting at prison officers.
‘So, there is no practical reason why guns couldn’t come into prison via this means. I think the real issue is that it’s not in anyone’s interest at the moment because this is a lucrative trade run by serious organised criminals.’
Asked why the drones can’t be jammed, the prisons chief said the technology to implement such a process ‘just simply hasn’t been there’ due to the speed that technology is evolving.
Mr Wheatley also claimed there are potential problems with just shooting the drones down in residential areas.
He said: ‘I think there are issues about where prisons are, so if you consider Manchester prison which is in an urban area with people moving around outside it, these drones are actually quite big.
‘They’re not the toy shop things that we see and, if we were to shoot one down, the chance it would fall and injure someone or damage somebody else’s property is significant, but that balance has got to be changing over time.’
Prisons chief Tom Wheatley (above) said drone use was a ‘significant and growing problem in prisons’ that is happening ‘every day’
He also sparked fears over the drones being eventually used to break prisoners out of jail if they evolve in their ability to lift heavier items.
Mr Wheatley added: ‘We have seen, in an English prison, a helicopter assisted escape, that’s something that we have to guard against – but the availability of cheaper means to lift someone out of a prison pose a significant risk.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told MailOnline that they had allocated £10million on anti-drone measures this financial year.
They said: ‘This Government is investing £40million in new security measures this year to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars.
‘This includes £10million on anti-drone measures such as exterior netting and reinforced windows.’
