§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information his Department received following the foiled attempt at a mass escape from Crumlin Road prison, Belfast, in October 1989 about the smuggling of Semtex, a pistol and ammunition into the prison in the heels of trainer shoes; and what subsequent action was taken to alert all prisons in the United Kingdom to this technique.
§ Mrs. RumboldOfficials from the prison service in England and Wales meet officials from Northern Ireland and Scotland several times each year to discuss security and to share information. This is regular and ongoing.
The problems of concealment of various weapons and other contraband in footwear is very well known. Specific warning advice was issued to governors in England and Wales in December 1985 about the dangers of weapons being concealed in this way. Similar advice on the dangers 512W of contraband items being concealed in shoes was issued on eight separate occasions between August 1982 and April 1991. The position in Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.