Gangs hold such influence over jails ‘it keeps me awake at night’, says Timpson

Organised transgression gangs who “corrupt” unit and enforce cause debts with unit clasp specified a immense power implicit jails crossed England and Wales that it “keeps maine awake astatine night”, the prisons curate has said.

James Timpson told the Guardian that Prison Service unit who worked with transgression gangs to smuggle drugs and contraband into jails were being targeted by a “beefed up” counter-corruption portion that past twelvemonth prosecuted 37 officers.

His comments travel deepening concerns from situation watchdogs that transgression gangs are taking power of prisons – a assertion Lord Timpson rejects. Criminologists person said the gangs are targeting and corrupting inexperienced officers.

Timpson said successful an interview: “Serious organised transgression is simply a large problem, a immense problem, and it’s 1 of the things that keeps maine awake astatine night, due to the fact that of the interaction it has connected a prison’s environment, from drugs, debt, unit and everything that goes with that.

“They [organised transgression gangs] corrupt some men and women to bring successful drugs. And a batch of these superior organised criminals are successful their cells astatine night, they’re really very, precise affluent radical and are connected with precise large amerciable businesses.”

Police and the National Crime Agency were moving with the counter-corruption portion to place connections betwixt gangs and situation officers, helium said, portion HM Prison and Probation Service had funded 20 specializer constabulary investigators.

He said: “The portion has been beefed up, and it needs to be, due to the fact that it’s an expanding occupation … Through our counter-corruption unit, we person recovered radical who are bringing successful drugs and contraband.”

Timpson, the erstwhile main enforcement of Timpson Group, the retailer that provides cardinal cutting and footwear repair services, was speaking arsenic much than 30 companies, including Microsoft and Google, prepared to conscionable the authorities connected Thursday to research however exertion could assistance show offenders successful the assemblage much efficaciously and tackle unit successful prison.

Timpson said artificial quality could beryllium utilized to easiness the dense workload of probation officers who astatine contiguous walk “so overmuch time” duplicating data. “Technology tin truly interaction what’s happening successful prison, but astir importantly successful probation. You talk to immoderate probation unit and they walk a batch of clip uncovering lodging for people, and erstwhile it fails, uncovering lodging again,” helium said.

Timpson took up his relation astatine the Ministry of Justice past July, erstwhile the penal strategy successful England and Wales was adjacent to breaking point, and oversaw the early merchandise of thousands of inmates to easiness overcrowding and escaped up space.

A sentencing reappraisal conducted by the erstwhile justness caput David Gauke is expected to urge adjacent week that much prisoners should beryllium tagged and service their sentences extracurricular prison. However, the information institution Serco, contracted by the authorities to negociate tagging since October 2023, has been severely criticised aft a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary past period recovered that criminals were going untagged for months aft their release.

Timpson indicated helium would not beryllium withdrawing the contract. “What I’ve learned from doing this occupation is the procurement processes is good ingrained and agelong term, and it is beauteous overmuch what it is. I deliberation it’s our occupation to support unit on, to telephone it retired erstwhile it’s not close but to enactment with them to lick the problems that determination are. Things person improved a lot, but I’m inactive not happy,” helium said.

The Prison Service remained nether pressure, helium said, with less than 1,000 spare places and much than 88,000 radical successful custody successful England and Wales.

Timpson said helium was assured further exigency measures to combat situation overcrowding would not beryllium needed this year.

He besides said the authorities would person to walk £500m connected dilapidated cells this twelvemonth arsenic it attempts to support them successful moving bid truthful they could person offenders. “One of the problems is, erstwhile you spell around, surely the older Victorian prisons, there’s ever this ongoing occupation astir losing cells due to the fact that of assorted bits of dilapidation, and it costs a batch of money. That means we’re spending £500m astatine the infinitesimal connected dilapidations and a batch of that is conscionable keeping capableness there,” helium said.