28,000 attempts to smuggle items into prisons have been stopped by hi-tech scanners

28,000 attempts to smuggle items such as weapons, drugs, and phones no bigger than a finger, into prisons in England and Wales have been thwarted by hi-tech body scanners

Deployed at all the closed male jails, the X-ray scanners are capable of producing high-resolution images of items as small as an inch within the bodies of offenders on arrival, transfer, or living in prisons.

Upwards of 90 scanners are part of a £125 million strategy launched two years ago to clamp down on violence, drugs, and rule-breaking in jails.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said: "Our tough new security measures are putting prisoners back on the straight and narrow. Allied to our renewed drive to get prisoners off drugs for good, we are cutting crime and keeping the public safe."  

The scanners have uncovered 28,626 items that criminals have tried to smuggle into jails in the past two years alone. This included items such as Zanco phones which are lonely slightly larger than a 50p piece. The phones can be purchased for as little as £16.99, but as they can very easily be hidden, they can be sold inside prisons for as much as £1,000.

The figures come as the Government is preparing to roll out airport-style baggage scanners to check bags brought in by the thousands of staff and visitors in 45 prisons.

Other items seized after being spotted on scanners include plastic Kinder egg shells packed with drugs and hidden inside the body of a prisoner. Depending on the drug being smuggled into the prison, a single egg can be worth as much as £5,000. The scanners have found increasing numbers of vapes packed with drugs, as the devices are allowed within jails. There have also been seizures of weapons such as lock knives.

Anti-corruption teams see their seizure as crucial in preventing criminals from acting with impunity.

Whitestone Solicitors