§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many strip searches were made of female prisoners in Her Majesty's prison, Maghaberry, in each month since January; if he will give the number of persons involved and the number of times each person was searched; whether any prison contraband, smuggled item or illegal correspondence was discovered in any search, indicating which items; in how many cases prisoners refused to be searched and had to be restrained while the602W search was being conducted; and if he will indicate the reasons for the search, namely, making a remand appearance at court, attending trial, inter-prison visit or other reasons.
§ Mr. CopeDetails of the number of, and reasons for strip searches of female prisoners in Her Majesty's prison Maghaberry, from July 1989 to November 1989 were provided on 18 December 1989 (Vol. 164, No. 20, Col. 14–16). The statistics from December 1989 to May 1990 are as follows: 603W
Number of searches December 1989 January 1990 February 1990 March 1990 April 1990 May 1990 Total number of searches carried out 24 15 21 31 21 37 Total number of inmates searched 19 12 15 18 17 24 Number of prisoners searched once 14 9 9 8 15 13 Number of prisoners searched twice 5 3 6 9 1 10 Number of prisoners searched more than twice Nil Nil Nil 1 1 1 First Admission on Remand/Awaiting Trial 9 5 2 4 6 8 First Admission on Sentence/Final Discharge 5 8 13 16 6 14 Attending Remand Court Nil Nil Nil Nil 1 2 Attending Trial Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Inter-Prison Visit 1 Nil 2 1 3 5 Pre-Release Home Leave 8 2 3 10 5 6 Compassionate Home Leave Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Visits to Outside Hospital Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Returning from Bail Application Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Attendance at Court for Bail Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Fines Paid Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Working Out Scheme Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Bail Granted 1 Nil 1 Nil Nil 2 No prohibited article was found during these searches and no prisoner refused to be searched.