Dead rats are being stuffed with drugs and mobiles — then lobbed into jails

Criminals are trying to pass contraband such as phones and drugs to inmates by stuffing it in dead rats and lobbing them over jail walls.

Officers found three rodents lying just inside a perimeter fence and noticed they were stitched along their stomachs.

They opened them up to find five mobiles and chargers, three SIM cards, cigarette papers and drugs including Spice and cannabis.

The Ministry of Justice said intelligence suggests the rats were thrown in by organised criminals co-ordinating with an offender on the inside.

Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said: “This shows the extraordinary lengths to which criminals will go to smuggle drugs into prison and why our work to improve security is so important.

These drugs were placed inside dead rats found on the premises of HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset (PA)

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“Drugs and mobile phones behind bars put prisoners, prison officers and the public at risk.”

While tennis balls and pigeons have been used to get contraband into jails, the MoJ said the find at HMP Guys Marsh, Dorset, this month was the first recorded case using rats.

Drugs, particularly Spice, are a key factor in surging levels of violence and disorder in our prisons.

Jails are also trying to stem the flow of illegal phones amid fears they are used to facilitate more crime and intimidate victims from behind bars.

The dead rats had been roughly sewn up (PA)

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In the 12 months to March 2018, there were 13,119 incidents where drugs were found in prisons in England and Wales — a rise of 23% on the previous year.

Discoveries of mobiles also increased, up 15% to 10,643 cases.

Officials say inmates are adopting increasingly inventive tactics to keep contraband hidden, including stashing it in hollowed-out furniture or in ­electrical items.

Phones, SIM cards and other items were also transported into the prison via rat (PA)

Category C HMP Guys Marsh has had a number of critical watchdog ­assessments.

Last year, the prison’s Independent Monitoring Board reported that lags have “easy access” to mobiles and “make calls at times to suit ­themselves”.

And in 2017, a report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons detailed how inmates were able walk around the jail in dressing gowns or just shorts.