Prisons: Smuggling

(asked on 8th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many successful prosecutions there have been in the last 12 months for smuggling illegal substances into prisons in England.


This question was answered on 22nd December 2021

The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the number of successful prosecutions for the smuggling of illegal substances into prisons. These offences are dealt with under section 40 of the Prison Act 1952 which deals with someone who brings, throws or otherwise conveys a List A article into or out of a prison. List A includes controlled drugs, but it also includes other articles including offensive weapons, explosives and firearms or ammunition. The offence code used by HM Courts and Tribunals Service is not specific enough to establish the number of offences that are related only to conveying illegal substances.

The most up to date 12 month data held for List A conveyance successful prosecutions is for 12 months up to December 2020 and there were 345 successful prosecutions in this timeframe.

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