Government to spend £35 million installing window grilles to tackle prison drone smuggling
Prison governors have long reported window improvements taking years to complete because of a lack of funding
Thousands of prison cell windows will be fitted with steel grilles to stop drones flooding jails with drugs, weapons and phones, the Government has announced.
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The Ministry of Justice said up to 13,000 heavy-duty grilles – many manufactured by prisoners themselves – will be installed by spring next year, costing £35 million.
Prison governors have long reported window improvements taking years to complete because of a lack of funding.
The age and poor condition of some prisons makes them especially vulnerable to drones, something the chief inspector of prisons has previously described as a threat to national security.
Around half of all prisoners had a drug problem as of April 2025, and easy access to substances is said to be crippling the Prison Service’s ability to keep control.
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Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: “Drone smuggling fuels violence, debt and disorder in our prisons. It wrecks rehabilitation and puts lives at risk.
“This new investment will further bolster prison defences against drones, building on our work with police to catch and prosecute the criminal gangs responsible.
“To the criminal gangs using drones to target our prisons, my message is clear: we are shutting down your routes, disrupting your operations and bringing offenders to justice.”
Tom Wheatley, president of the Prison Governors’ Association, said: “We have long warned of the threat to the security of our prisons and the safety of staff, prisoners and the public arising from the ease with which drones can enter our prisons and deliver drugs, weapons and mobile phones.
“We welcome this investment and the impact that it will have. Rehabilitation is far more difficult in prisons where drugs are rife and violence is used to enforce debts.
“It is in all our interests to make conveying illicit and dangerous items into prisons as difficult as possible.”
Earlier this year, a gang that used drones to smuggle drugs, weapons, and phones into Britain’s prisons in a system likened to Deliveroo and Uber Eats for inmates was jailed.
Shafaghatullah Mohseni, 29, orchestrated dozens of late night and early morning “drops” at prisons across London and the south east of England between December 2 2024 and February 26 2025.
Hashim Al-Hussaini, 28, Mohammed Hamoud, 22, Faiz Salah, 29, Zahar Essaghi, 51, Mustafa Ibrahim, 30, and Emanuel Fisniku, 25, assisted Mohseni, acting as lookouts and drivers, as well as receiving payments for the illicit shipments.
Judge James Lofthouse said it was a “well-oiled conspiracy” which prison guards struggled to tackle – even if they had actually seen the drones making the drop-offs at cell windows.