The Dumfries prison boasted some of the lowest mobile phone and SIM card con scation rates in Scotland last year with just 1.70 per cent of the jail’s population caught with the devices, compared with Addiewell Prison’s 6.47 per cent.
Despite the lowest rates, the Dumfries site has actually seen one of the biggest increases in detec- tion, while nationally the number of con scated phones has declined from 425 in 2012-13 to 273 in 2017-18, a 56 pre cent reduction.
The maximum penalty if caught with a phone in prison in Scotland is two years, with the average in- mate receiving an extra 4.3 months on to their sentence.
Discussing the statistics, a Prison Service spokesman said: “These statistics show that we are successfully stop- ping contraband from entering the prison estate. Better intelligence and improved security measures are allowing us to catch more illicit items than ever before.
“However, we acknowledge that more must be done and as Minister Rory Stewart has previously stated, there are only five ways in which contraband can be smuggled into prisons and we are taking steps to tackle all five: we’ve addressed flying contraband in by tackling drones, the throwing over of items by the use of nets and searches, the dragging in of items by identifying wires, and the posting of drugs by photocopying letters.”
He added: “We are also taking decisive action to find and block mobile phones, including a £2m investment in detection equipment. We have legislated to stop phones from being used in prisons.
“In addition, 300 specialist prison dogs have been trained in drugs detection to help stem the ow of illicit substances into our prisons, allowing of cers to focus their ef- forts on reforming and turning the lives around of offenders.
“The measures are part of a much wider strategy to tackle the most pressing threats to security in pris- ons and backed by a strengthening of the frontline with an additional 3111 prison of cers in place at the end of March 2018 than were in post in October 2016.”
