Garth inspection report 2024
Report for Garth Prison
Summary
This Lancashire category B training prison held 816 prisoners mostly serving long or indeterminate sentences. This was a disappointing inspection, with the prison having become noticeably less safe than at our last visit and some of the wings now feeling chaotic. The ingress of drugs continued to be a major challenge with 63% of prisoners saying they were easy to acquire. Men were using the elements from their kettles to burn holes in their inadequately protected Perspex windows, allowing drones to drop off contraband. The rate of assaults had increased by around 45% since our last inspection, with much of this likely to be driven by the illicit economy and subsequent debt. Although the prison was working well with local agencies to address the supply, only the replacement of the windows would reduce this substantially.