Drones used to smuggle flick knives into jail as ‘old skool’ violence erupts
HMP Pentonville was singled out in a damning report after it found that knives had been smuggled in by drones to be used in traditional forms of violence between inmates
Prison inspectors have said they were ‘alarmed’ after three flick knives were smuggled into a jail. It is believed that drones were responsible for delivering them.
A report into HMP Pentonville, a prison which holds just under 1,200 men in north London, was released last week and found that one of the knives was used in an attack. It does not specify whether it was used to stab another prisoner or a member of prison staff, but inspectors from the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said there had been an increase in men carrying weapons.
They said that since razors were withdrawn across the prison estate — replaced with electric shavers — inmates were ‘reverting to old school methods of violence’. This is now being reflected in the increase in knife-related incidents at the jail, though knife crime remains high across all jails.
The Prison Service spent £1.5million on electric shavers for every prisoner in the UK, with each of the £15 shavers – made by Pifco — gradually handed out to prisons since 2024. The plan was to stop razor blades being used as weapons – often melted into toothbrushes and used to slash people – or to self harm.
Despite the ban on razors, however, inspectors said inmates simply found other ways to inflict pain. The report — released last month — stated: “Manual razors were withdrawn and replaced with electric razors, which has led to the men reverting to old-school methods of violence.
“(Among them include) using cut-off broom and mop handles as weapons. The appearance of flick knives was alarming.
“Two of these, which have longer, sharper blades, were found but a third one, used in an attack, was not,” the report continued. “Two other knives were found in February.”
The report said that ‘focus groups’ were being organised to find out why inmates in the London jail were carrying weapons. As well as this, inspectors also revealed how violence has soared at the jail, with an average of 37 prisoner-on-prisoner attacks every month, and 20 attacks on staff each month.
The report also raised concerns about the ease in which drones can deliver contraband – including weapons – straight to individual prisoner’s cell windows. In the past year, 248 weapons were found – along with 442 mobile phones and 273 drug finds.
It stated: “Drone technology had improved to such an extent that contraband could be delivered to an exact cell on a specified landing. The installation of the new windows was halted, as they seemed too easily dismantled to allow drone deliveries.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said this week it was ‘taking urgent action’ at the jail.
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