HC Deb 24 January 1984 vol 52 c516W
Mr. McNamara

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many strip searches were made of female prisoners in Her Majesty's prison Armagh in the month of December; if he will give the number of persons involved and the number of times each prisoner was searched; and whether any prison contraband, smuggled items or illegal correspondence was discovered in any of the searches, indicating which items.

Mr. Scott

During December 1983, 41 strip searches were carried out on 29 female inmates in Her Majesty's prison, Armagh. Individual prisoners were searched the following number of times:

Number of prisoners Number of searches in each case
1 4
9 2
19 1

No prohibited articles were found during these searches.

Mr. McNamara

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes have been introduced into the regularity of strip searches in Her Majesty's prison, Armagh.

Mr. Scott

I shall reply to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.