Latest news with #HMPLeicester
BBC News
09-07-2025
- BBC News
Chesterfield man admits creating explosives at property
A man has admitted 14 counts of making explosives at a property in Derbyshire over a period of a cordoned off streets and evacuated 35 homes after finding the items in a search of a house in Kingsley Avenue, Chesterfield, in July Spinks, 52, of HMP Leicester but formerly of Kingsley Avenue, was due to begin a four-day trial on Wednesday at Derby Crown ahead of the proceedings, Spinks pleaded guilty to the 14 charges of making explosives dating as far back as January 2009. These included making explosive devices, fuses, hexamethylene triperoxide diamine - also known as HMTD, which is an explosive organic chemical compound - black powder and flash powder "in circumstances which gave rise to a reasonable suspicion they were not for lawful object". The court heard Spinks had been creating the explosives "for his own purpose" and they were "experimental".Spinks's explosive materials were not owned to inflict injuries, the court heard, but he had been "reckless" about if they could have potentially caused injuries or damage to discovery of the materials led police to close a section of Kingsley Avenue between Church Street and Burns homes were initially evacuated before residents from a further 32 properties were told to leave.A rest centre was established at Queen's Park Sports Centre for is due to be sentenced at Derby Crown Court this week.
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Rising violence concerns at ageing HMP Leicester
A high turnover of inmates at an ageing and overcrowded Victorian prison is putting more pressure on staff to make sure it is safe and decent, a watchdog Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) reviewed HMP Leicester from February 2024 to January 2025 and found cases of violence in that time rose to 270, compared to 186 in group said there were also long delays in the taking of prisoners suffering from acute mental illness to Ministry of Justice, which runs the Welford Road jail, said £40m was being invested in new security measures this year to cut violence in prisons in England. In July, the IMB - volunteers who monitor standards - said the Category B jail, built in the 19th Century, was no longer fit for their latest report, they said the site "remains under significant pressure" from the large number of men being sent board said population numbers fell in the summer of 2024 but by the end of January the prison was again full. The most prisoners which it can hold without a serious risk to safety is 327, according to watchdog found prison staff were trying to manage the high turnover of prisoners in the ageing IMB said, despite some funding, the condition of cells continued to get worse and broken windows and grills, which were replaced with perspex sheets with holes, allowed drugs to be smuggled in. Dementia concerns The delay in moving prisoners with acute mental illness to hospital was due to a shortage of available beds, with one inmate waiting 175 days until a suitable place was found, they IMB advised there should be sufficient places in secure mental health facilities for prisoners who needed prison "was not a suitable place" for prisoners with severe dementia, the board said, adding it did not meet their needs and put the inmate and staff at board found a third of men released from the prison had no accommodation to go to and were more likely to Worsfold, Leicester IMB chair, said: "In the board's view, the prison is well-led but the high turnover of men and ageing buildings make prison staff's already challenging task much harder."The watchdog did say the prison was developing strong relationships with local employers to prepare inmates for work after they were released.A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said their £40m investment in better security was aimed at reducing violence in prisons."This includes £10m on anti-drone measures such as exterior netting and reinforced windows," they added.
Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Telegraph
Drug drones deliver through prisons' ‘hole-ridden' perspex windows
Criminals have used drones to deliver drugs through hole-ridden perspex windows on prisoners' cells, a watchdog has revealed. The windows made it easier for crime gangs to deliver the drugs to inmates at HMP Leicester, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) warned. Prison bosses were forced to replace deteriorated cell windows and their grills with perspex sheets that have holes in them. The security flaw contributed to a 'disturbing' increase in the use of drones to deliver drugs and illegal mobile phones to prisoners. They said the perspex sheets were 'not a suitable solution'. 'Not only does it allow for cold drafts in the winter but also increases drone access to deliver illicit items,' the board added. 'It is difficult to detect [drones] during the hours of darkness and is made easier by the deteriorating fabric of the cell windows and their grills. 'A bid for improved CCTV with night vision capability has been made to try and identify drone deliveries. However, these are likely to occur during hours of darkness when the staffing complement is much lower.' Reoffenders smuggle drugs It was not the only route, however, by which drugs were being smuggled into the jail, with evidence of prisoners recalled to prison for reoffending or breaching their licence being recruited to bring in the contraband. 'There is evidence of men returning to prison on recall being pressurised into bringing in illegal drugs by this route,' said the watchdogs. Of 2,293 body scans on prisoners coming into reception when they entered the prison or there was a suspicion they had hidden them in their bodies, 11.7 per cent (307) were positive, 'invariably for organic matter drugs' such as cannabis. The proportion of positive drug tests on prisoners had increased from one in five (20.5 per cent) in 2023 to 27.5 per cent in 2024. This indicated 'a significant and increasing amount of illegal drug use by prisoners,' said the watchdogs. The number of intelligence reports of prisoners seen to be under the influence of drugs had also risen substantially to 486 occasions and was now frequently a daily occurrence. The drugs had contributed to a 31 per cent rise in violent incidents within the jail. It is the latest jail where the deteriorating fabric of the prison estate has been blamed for a surge in drugs being flown to inmates' cell windows for them to then grab the drugs. However, even where the prison service has replaced the windows, criminals have still found ways round the security. At HMP Manchester, the prisoners used kettle filaments to burn holes in the newly-fitted windows. Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, warned in January that drone flying drug gangs had seized control of the airspace at the prison, which had contributed to a 'catastrophically high' level of illicit drugs in the jail. HMP Manchester houses category A prisoners and inmates have included Ian Brady, the Moors murderer, Harold Shipman, the serial killer GP, and Charles Bronson, described as Britain's most violent prisoner. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'This Government is investing £40 million in new security measures this year to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars. 'This includes £10 million on anti-drone measures such as exterior netting and reinforced windows.'
