0:00:02 > 0:00:06Tonight, I'm undercover in one of our crisis-hit prisons.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15I see some prisoners out of it on drugs.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Prison officers say they've lost control...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30..that inmates run the jail.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38The threat of violence is constant.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Security, compromised.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54And prison officers struck down, exposed to drug fumes.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I ask what will it take to turn our prisons around?
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Her Majesty's Prison, Northumberland
0:01:30 > 0:01:32is one of the biggest in the country.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37I've just started working here as a prison custody officer.
0:01:46 > 0:01:47Hello. NU, this is November two.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Request permission to move from House Block Nine
0:01:49 > 0:01:51to House Block Eight, over.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54It's my first week and already I'm responsible
0:01:54 > 0:01:56for escorting 70 prisoners.
0:02:05 > 0:02:06I just follow the crowd of prisoners
0:02:06 > 0:02:08and unlock the gates for them.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23There are more than 1,300 men behind bars here.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Anything from driving offences to violent crime and drug smuggling.
0:02:28 > 0:02:29The demands are endless.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41My standard shift is ten hours.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Straight out of training, I do nine days in a row.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58It appears chaotic to me.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00These two prisoners are drunk at mealtime
0:03:00 > 0:03:02and aren't trying to hide it.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Some are high on drugs.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Others are struggling to cope.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40It doesn't stop from the moment you get there
0:03:40 > 0:03:42to the moment you leave.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48You can't work five days or six days solid there.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49It...
0:03:49 > 0:03:50It ruins you. You don't...
0:03:50 > 0:03:53You're not a person any more, you just exist.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Three years ago, the prison was privatised.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05French company Sodexo won the 15-year contract,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08promising the Government it could save £130 million.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15When the initial shock of the privatisation came out...
0:04:15 > 0:04:17the staff were shocked that it had happened
0:04:17 > 0:04:19but then we thought, well, maybe...
0:04:19 > 0:04:22it could be a good thing.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23We might see a big change.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27You train as part of a team, so you and the dog are a team.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Jim Reid was a dog handler and prison officer
0:04:29 > 0:04:31with more than 20 years' experience.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34His optimism didn't last long.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39They got rid of 96 uniform staff, over 200 in total.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43I myself was part of a dog team.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Erm, and we were told, "You're gone."
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Since 2011, around half a billion pounds has been taken
0:04:53 > 0:04:55from the prison budget in England and Wales.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59As the prisoner population was rising,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01more than 6,000 officers were lost.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Jim Reid took redundancy
0:05:06 > 0:05:08but colleagues who stayed at Northumberland
0:05:08 > 0:05:09say they're overwhelmed.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15I've seen experienced staff crying in the main street.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18And they've said, "I cannae take it, I cannae take it any more."
0:05:18 > 0:05:20It's horrendous up there for staff.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23When they open doors, they're pulling knives on them, fights,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27and the drugs, so there's a lot to deal with,
0:05:27 > 0:05:28even for experienced staff.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Last year, Sodexo took on 23 new officers.
0:05:34 > 0:05:35I'm one of them.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40During our nine-week training course, we were told
0:05:40 > 0:05:44that we'd been taken on to help turn the prison around.
0:05:44 > 0:05:45It's a big ask.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Not all of the smoke is from cigarettes.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08In the evenings, prisoners usually get a couple of hours to socialise
0:06:08 > 0:06:11before they're locked in their cells.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Sodexo says we should always be on the lookout for drugs,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25weapons and mobile phones.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28But it's not that easy.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Even with the new staff like me,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35I'm the only officer on this landing right now.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36And there's nearly 30 of them.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51We're supposed to be in charge.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I can't safely challenge them when I'm by myself.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55And the prisoners know that.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11The prisoner lying on the floor has smoked a drug called Spice.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29His forearm's moving around uncontrollably.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32His eyes completely vacant, doesn't know what he's seeing
0:07:32 > 0:07:35and face completely expressionless.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Spice is now one of the most popular drugs in prison.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46It's a cheap, chemical alternative to cannabis -
0:07:46 > 0:07:47only many times stronger.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Spice is a potent, terrible drug.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Hallucinating, becoming violent.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58They're walking around zombiefied.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Off their face, completely off their face.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06The effects of the drug start to wear off.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The prison nurse arrives and an ambulance is on its way.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Officers tell me they don't always call the nurse
0:08:38 > 0:08:40when prisoners react badly to Spice.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43It happens too frequently.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48It's not just here.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Prisoners regularly film themselves on mobile phones smoking Spice.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Spice in the jail house.
0:08:58 > 0:09:0258 prison deaths in England and Wales have been linked to the drug.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05He's gone. He's gone.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13HMP Northumberland is a training prison.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19It holds medium to low-security prisoners in its 15 house blocks.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24They're supposed to study or work,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26preparing for life on the outside.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Nearly a quarter of new prisoners in England
0:09:38 > 0:09:41can't read or write to the level expected of an 11-year old.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45The education and training they receive here
0:09:45 > 0:09:47is provided by outside contractors.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Teachers try their best.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54But some of what I see is not impressive.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56This is an employability skills class.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59I see three prisoners colouring in a picture
0:09:59 > 0:10:02of the children's cartoon character Peppa Pig.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Prisoners colouring in Peppa Pig
0:10:06 > 0:10:09or anything similar is inexcusable.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Sir Martin, who used to run the Prison Service,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15hasn't seen any of my secret footage.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16He's now advising the Government.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21The art of reducing reoffending is not complicated.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25If you get somebody employable and get them into a job,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28the probability of them not going back to serious crime
0:10:28 > 0:10:30is hugely increased.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36These classes are provided by a company called Novus.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38They told us they've investigated my concerns
0:10:38 > 0:10:40and sent a report to the Government.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Prisons are supposed to be among the most secure institutions
0:10:48 > 0:10:50in the country.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54But small amounts of drugs have always come in during prison visits.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13This prisoner has tried to swallow packages of heroin
0:11:13 > 0:11:14passed to him by a visitor.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21I find this package of drugs hidden in the sock of another
0:11:21 > 0:11:22and hand it in.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32But there's far more Spice in the prison
0:11:32 > 0:11:34than can ever get in during visits.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44On the very same day I started work at HMP Northumberland,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46staff made a massive find.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52Just on one house block, they found 2.5 kilos of Spice.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54It was laid out over a table.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59It would have filled up two backpacks' worth.
0:11:59 > 0:12:00It's incredible.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05It has a prison value of a quarter of a million pounds,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08much more than it would be worth on the outside.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Some of the Spice was barely hidden in a prisoner's wardrobe.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17There could have been more.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Officers don't know how much had already been sold.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24How they've been allowed to have that quantity of drugs in a cell,
0:12:24 > 0:12:25is unbelievable.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27It's a major breach of security.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30All the officers I've spoken to
0:12:30 > 0:12:33think every inch of the block should have been searched.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36They say, in the past, it would have been.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Officers tell me they think there was no lock down
0:12:54 > 0:12:56because it would have cost Sodexo money.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00They say if they're deployed to a search,
0:13:00 > 0:13:05they can't also get prisoners to education, work and training.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08And Sodexo gets paid partly based on how many inmates attend.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38This prisoner burgled to fund his cocaine habit.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43On the inside he's still on drugs.
0:13:43 > 0:13:44Now it's Spice.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Prison isn't helping him change his ways.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09HMP Northumberland's perimeter fence.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Jim Reid used to regularly patrol inside the fence with a dog,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17intercepting drugs which had been thrown over.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Sodexo scrapped all that
0:14:21 > 0:14:24and told him to drive around outside the perimeter on his own.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31It was supposed to deter people from throwing items over the fence.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33It was a joke.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Every member of staff knew security was a joke.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40On patrol one afternoon, Jim ran into trouble.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43So I was driving up, coming up the road here.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48We had intelligence there was going to be a package dropped off.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51One or two bodies, I don't know, were hiding behind this hedge.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56And as I came up this way, they threw a boulder or brick
0:14:56 > 0:14:58or whatever they threw. It just went bang.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03It was a huge bang and it shattered the windscreen.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06I veered off to the right and ended up in this ditch over here.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Jim escaped serious injury.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Other staff doing the same job have been threatened or attacked too.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Sodexo told us they work closely with the police,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21"to deliver significant successes in the constant battle to disrupt
0:15:21 > 0:15:23"drug supply and illegal activity."
0:15:29 > 0:15:32There used to be regular, dedicated search teams
0:15:32 > 0:15:34across HMP Northumberland.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Officers have told us now there are none.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44This officer is supposed to be thoroughly checking the locks,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46bolts and bars in these cells.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53He does three cells in just 20 seconds.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17This prisoner is in for burglary.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19We're calling him John.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21He seems disorientated and scared.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28He's being kept in his cell until the Spice wears off.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30HE BABBLES
0:16:49 > 0:16:51As he starts to come round,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53I can make out what he's been trying to tell me.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Later I find out why.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06He says he's being bullied.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31When I see him again, he's totally out of it on Spice.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Other inmates think it's hilarious.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38LAUGHTER
0:17:38 > 0:17:39I think they're "spiking" him,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42giving him cigarettes laced with Spice.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57Straight away, throws up on his bed, over his pillow...
0:17:58 > 0:18:02..and rolls straight over on his face into it.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07He's got no idea that there's sick everywhere.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09He's got no idea he's got his face in it.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11He's got no idea he's in a prison.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14He's just not functioning at all.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25I told a more experienced officer that he's being bullied.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29It seems to me John's vulnerable
0:18:29 > 0:18:31and being failed by the prison system.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Right across the Prison Service,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38the plain truth is that there are too few prison officers.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40The great danger is some officers
0:18:40 > 0:18:44have retreated from interaction with prisoners,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48to the ends of wings where they are perhaps observing prisoners.
0:18:48 > 0:18:49That's very, very dangerous.
0:18:49 > 0:18:50You have to have good order,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53you have to have a place which is safe and secure.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57ALARM BLARES
0:18:59 > 0:19:02There aren't enough officers to deal with the violence here either.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08A fight's broken out.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10By the time officers get there, it's all over.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15So they check the CCTV.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- Ooh! Oh...- BLEEP.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23I see one prisoner stomping on another.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37I see the result of an attack on another prisoner.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56And there are weapons in this prison.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01This knife was photographed inside, I'm told, in the last few weeks.
0:20:04 > 0:20:05Last year,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09305 ambulances were called to the prison in just seven months.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10That's nine a week.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29And it's not a safe environment for officers, either.
0:20:29 > 0:20:3335 were attacked at HMP Northumberland in 2015.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37I'm told about a recent assault.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00After this prisoner was told his TV would be confiscated
0:21:00 > 0:21:01for beating up another inmate,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03he refuses to go back in his cell.
0:21:05 > 0:21:06Then he threatens me.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Others officers tell me they don't confront prisoners,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26because they're not confident backup will arrive to protect them
0:21:26 > 0:21:27if they're attacked.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49There were 6,430 assaults on prison staff
0:21:49 > 0:21:52in England and Wales last year.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54That's 17 a day - the highest ever recorded.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Prison officers staged a series of walk-outs.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05They said they didn't feel safe and had lost confidence.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11At HMP Northumberland, officers feel their authority has gone too.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28MUSIC PLAYING
0:22:28 > 0:22:29Yes!
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Just over a year ago, prisoners at HMP Northumberland
0:22:34 > 0:22:37filmed themselves having a party and apparently taking drugs.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44THEY LAUGH
0:22:47 > 0:22:49The party happened here on House Block Six.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54While I was there, staff made an astonishing find.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Officers think prisoners were wearing the black clothing
0:23:06 > 0:23:09to sneak out at night and avoid being seen by CCTV cameras.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Tin snips - wire-cutting tools.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23Staff soon find out what they've been used for.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37The hole in an internal security fence
0:23:37 > 0:23:38meant prisoners could collect drug deliveries
0:23:38 > 0:23:40thrown over the outer perimeter.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45That's a major breach of security.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Any tampering with any fencing
0:23:48 > 0:23:50should have been picked up earlier.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51It should have been inspected.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56But how were they able to sneak out of their block in the first place?
0:23:57 > 0:24:00House Block Six is supposed to be for well-behaved inmates
0:24:00 > 0:24:02about to transfer to open prisons.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05They aren't locked in their cells at night.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Doors to the outside are supposed to be alarmed.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13I'm sent to check them after the discovery of the wire cutting tools
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and make my own astonishing find.
0:24:17 > 0:24:18An alarm should go off.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21It doesn't.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40I was told problems with the alarms were reported three weeks earlier.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54I get a chance to speak to the governor, Tony Simpson.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Even he admits he's let the wrong sort of prisoners
0:24:56 > 0:24:57onto the block.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27The governor also told me House Block Six - a pre-fab building -
0:25:27 > 0:25:29is ten years past its sell-by date.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35We estimate that if Sodexo closed it, with the loss of 40 beds,
0:25:35 > 0:25:37they would lose £16,000 per week.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Sodexo say they've invested at least £3 million
0:25:44 > 0:25:45in safety and security
0:25:45 > 0:25:47which are their top priority,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50and recruited an additional 37 staff.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54They say, "After viewing the programme, we will of course
0:25:54 > 0:25:57"investigate where necessary and take appropriate action."
0:26:01 > 0:26:03The Government say they're determined to make our prisons
0:26:03 > 0:26:07places of safety and reform and have promised to spend an extra
0:26:07 > 0:26:12£100 million a year on 2,500 new officers in England and Wales.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20The staff already there whose confidence has been eroded,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23we need to concentrate on recovering their confidence.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26I think some of that will come as they see additional colleagues
0:26:26 > 0:26:28arriving to work alongside them.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31I'm not being glib, it will take some time.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Back at HMP Northumberland, despite my new intake,
0:26:37 > 0:26:38it still feels chaotic.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44I'm becoming used to the stress and the threat of violence.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46But I'm not prepared for what I see next.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02It's an officer he's talking about.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05There have been reports officers' health is being put at risk
0:27:05 > 0:27:06by Spice smoke in prison.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Until now, there's been little evidence.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28It's not the first time officers here have been felled
0:27:28 > 0:27:30by inhaling Spice smoke.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33I've been told at least three members of staff have also
0:27:33 > 0:27:36needed hospital treatment in the last seven months.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55He's taken to hospital and later recovers.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03I spent two months undercover at HMP Northumberland.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08I saw prison officers unable to maintain control,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10much less help rehabilitate prisoners.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14If we take people and lock them up
0:28:14 > 0:28:18and don't use that period when they are literally captive,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21to try to do something which makes it less likely
0:28:21 > 0:28:24that they'll go and burgle someone's house when they get out,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26then we're just losing a golden opportunity.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Few of us will experience life inside.
0:28:32 > 0:28:33But all of us have a stake
0:28:33 > 0:28:35in stopping prisoners returning to crime.