HC Deb 02 December 1996 vol 286 c471W
Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the discovery of an impression of a master key in a prisoner's cell at Her Majesty's prison, Full Sutton; how this breach of security will be investigated; and what steps he is taking to prevent similar breaches of security in future. [5253]

Miss Widdecombe

[holding answer 21 November 1996]Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 2 December 1996The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the discovery of an impression of a master key in a prisoner's cell at Full Sutton prison. The impression of a key was found during a cell search on Tuesday 14 November. The cell was being searched by a specialist team after it was vacated by a high risk category A prisoner, who was transferred to Portlaoise prison in the Republic of Ireland the previous day. The impression was made by a key which opened class 1 locks at Full Sutton Prison. Such keys open external gates to buildings within the prison secure perimeter. The possession of a key impression is a major security breach, however, to stage a successful escape, the prisoner would have needed to manufacture a working key and accumulate additional equipment in order to overcome all the security systems in operation. This is an extremely serious incident. All the class I locks in the prison have been replaced. A full search of the entire prison, including non-residential areas, took place over the weekend. The search was performed using highly trained dedicated search teams, specialist dogs and equipment designed to detect explosives. An exhaustive analysis of the intelligence relating to the circumstances of the find is taking place in consultation with the police. Remedial action will be taken in light of the result of the analysis now underway.

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