§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many strip searches were made of female prisoners in Her Majesty's prison, Armagh, in the months of April and May respectively, indicating the number of prisoners involved and the number of times 162W each prisoner was searched; and whether any prison contraband, smuggled items or illegal correspondence were discovered in any of the searches.
§ Mr. ScottDuring April 1983, 88 strip searches were carried out on 29 female inmates in Her Majesty's prison, Armagh. During May 1983, 99 such searches were carried out on 29 female inmates. Individual prisoners were searched the following number of times:
Number of Prisoners (29) Number of searches in each case April 2 17 2 5 1 4 3 3 10 2 11 1 May 1 25 1 24 1 4 3 3 12 2 11 1 The two prisoners who were strip searched 17 times in April and 25 and 24 times respectively in May were those engaged in a pre-release working out scheme referred to in my right hon. Friend's reply of 26 April 1983. —[Vol. 41, c. 317.]
No prohibited articles were found during these searches.