§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the Official Report an account of the incident which led to the introduction of strip searches in Armagh prison in November 1982.
§ Mr. PriorOn 22 October 1982, in the course of a detailed search of cells, two keys were found in the possession of two remand prisoners. Investigations revealed that the keys were from the doors in a court building to which the prisoners had been taken for a remand hearing and had then been smuggled into the prison by the prisoners. The implications of this breach of security were carefully considered and it was decided to replace the routine rub-down searches with strip searching, which is in regular use in prisons in Great Britain.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether prisoners continually in the presence of prison officers, the Royal Ulster Constabulary or other security forces, from leaving Armagh prison for whatever reason until their return to the prison, are subject to strip searches before leaving and on their return to prison.
§ Mr. PriorAll prisoners leaving and entering Armagh prison are searched. The procedure may involve a strip search. The need for these procedures is kept under review, and it has proved possible recently to reduce the frequency of the strip searching of prisoners attending court for short remand hearings, who make up the majority of cases to which such searches have been applied.
121W
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether X-ray machines for detecting metals and machines for detecting explosives are available and used at Armagh prison.
§ Mr. PriorMetal detectors are available at the prison and are used during ordinary rub-down searches. X-ray equipment is not used for searching prisoners. Machines for detecting explosives are not available or used at Armagh prison. The effectiveness of these items of equipment is not such that an acceptable level of security can be achieved by their use alone.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether there is any contact between members of the public and prisoners from Armagh prison when the prisoners attend court.
§ Mr. PriorThe possibility of such contact, and of illicit items being passed to prisoners, cannot be ruled out.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the average time that a prisoner on remand attending Armagh court is outside Armagh prison.