245 drug finds in local jail

DRUGS were seized from prisoners in HMP Magilligan on 245 occasions in the last three years.

By The Newsroom

Published 7th Oct 2012, 11:08 BST

Prisons Minister David Ford revealed the number of drug finds in the Londonderry since 2009.

The amount of finds at Maghaberry and Hydebank during the same period were 568 and 348 respectively.

Last year the Sentinel reported how eighteen people were arrested on suspicion of attempting to smuggle banned substances into HMP Magilligan between 2007 and 2011.

The amount of arrests rose from three in 2007/8 to four in 2008/9 before falling back to three in 2009/10 and spiking to eight in 2010/11.

In the first six months of 2011/12 there were no arrests.

Maghaberry