A prison facing an escalating problem with the “zombie drug” Spice has been warned it is set “to blow”, after it emerged that up to 30 prison officers are off sick from inhaling the psychoactive substance.
The number of officers at Holme House Prison, Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham, on sick leave has almost doubled in two weeks from 16 to 30, out of the 176 serving at the jail. Many of them are believed to be absent due to the effects of the synthetic substance.
Last month it was reported that a £200,000 haul of Spice was discovered in Weetabix, porridge and coffee packets in inmates’ cells. An investigation is under way into what is believed to be a sophisticated manufacturing and smuggling operation because the Spice was sealed into the packets.
The prison was in lockdown last week as a thorough drugs search was carried out. However tensions among prisoners and fears of riots are rising after it was claimed that due to staff shortages inmates are being locked up for most of the day and losing their privileges.
The partner of a prison officer warned that now “it is only a matter of time before Holme House blows, as more and more prisoners are being locked up due to staff shortages”.
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She told The Northern Echo: “Some of these prisoners don’t touch drugs and are keen gym enthusiasts or actually spend their days at work doing jobs around the prison.
“If they begin to lose their privileges and association time, due to lockdowns and staff shortages, then they start on the druggies, and all hell breaks loose.
“Meanwhile, some officers are in very dark places, with heads in hands rocking to and fro, sitting up all night just staring into darkness, with the only thought failure.
“And the Ministry of Justice is making matters worse by paying off experienced officers and recruiting 18-year-olds.”
Terry Fullerton, the North-East chairman of the Prison Officers Association, added: “You can’t lose 30 staff and carry on as normal.
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“It puts a lot of pressure on because you can’t deliver the regime that the prisoners are expecting and that causes tensions inside the prison.”
He said prison officers inhaling Spice fumes had been admitted to hospital because they thought they were having heart attacks, and others were suffering from the psychotic effect of it, being severely emotionally affected.
“Their families have seen them in that sort of state so it doesn’t just have an impact on them, it impacts their families too,” he added.
“Without a shadow of a doubt we welcome the fact that the prison was searched. But this has been going on for a long time, it should have been searched before.
“It could have been done earlier and it would have prevented some of the staff who are now off sick going off sick,” Mr Fullerton said.
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A Ministry of Justice spokesman said that not all the cases were related to Spice inhalation but did not give a figure.
He said more “illicit items” had been found during the search last Tuesday, adding: “The safety and welfare of our staff is a top priority and anyone found with contraband will be subject to disciplinary action and police investigations.
“We are also taking unprecedented action to stop the supply and use of drugs, which includes a new drug-testing programme as well as the introduction of a specialist team of prison and police officers to tackle the threat of drones bringing contraband into our prisons.”