Unnamed prison governors disclose corruption

A study by the prison and police services reportedly shows widescale corruption in the prison service. The study by the Prison Service`s anti-corruption unit and the Met Police, leaked to the BBC, says as many as 1,000 workers are thought to be selling mobile phones and drugs.

It quotes a series of unnamed prison governors. One states: “Here, corruption is endemic… I have identified 25 corrupt staff but there are many, many more.”

Another says: “I believe staff are bringing in drugs and it is quite clear that they are trafficking mobile phones from the sheer amount of them in here… They cannot all be coming over the wall.”

Bob Croxton, a former inmate, told the BBC that whilst he was in prison, he had corrupted officers through the trading of steroids. “I ended up with four officers involved and, I believe, that between them they roughly earned £35,000 in the space of nine months.”

The Prison Service said the report relies on anecdotal evidence and overstates the corruption issue.

However, senior figures within its own anti-corruption unit are quoted as saying the problem is growing and is not being tackled effectively.

Phil Wheatley, Director General of the Prison Service, told the BBC: “There is a problem, there is always a problem about bent staff. I was warned about the dangers of staff being compromised on my very first day in the service in 1969. It`s an ongoing problem with prisons, we need to be alert to it.” A Met Police spokesman confirmed the study “into the scope of corruption in the prison service has recently concluded” and meetings will be held shortly to discuss options to deal with the outcomes.