Brixton prison’s restaurant rated 4th of 18,000 on TripAdvisor
Drugs, phones and another forms of contraband have been smuggled into HMP Brixton prison through the restaurant, a recent report from the Independent Monitoring Board has claimed.
It said that customers of the acclaimed and highly praised restaurant, “The Clink”, brought the contraband through the property, passing it on to inmates working in the kitchen.
The report states: “Possession and use of mobile phones remained a significant problem.
“Known sources of drug, phone and sim card importation include visitors, including to The Clink restaurant for a time, mail, and throw-overs.”
The restaurant was opened in Brixton prison in 2014 inside the old prison governor’s house in the middle of the main courtyard, and is one of four in the UK, including HMP High Down, HMP Cardiff and woman’s prison HMP Styal.
The Clink is rated fourth-best on TripAdvisor out of 18,000 restaurants in London, offering meals such as pigeon with poached quails egg and grilled turbot with purple potatoes and samphire.
The building includes barred windows and panic buttons, plastic cutlery is used and all customers entering must have a security check and leave mobile phones at the door.
It was put in place to train inmates, ready for release, in the hope to cut the reoffending rates and give offenders employable qualifications.
It has, so far, been successful in reducing reoffending rate, with the 2011 graduates of the first two Clink restaurants in HMP High Down and HMP Cardiff recording reoffending rates of 12.5% as opposed to the average percentage of 47.
The report from the IMB said that phones smuggled into Brixton prison were being used to by inmates to “arrange drug deliveries, collect debts and maintain control of criminal enterprises”.
A prison spokesperson told The Telegraph: “We are taking unprecedented action to stop illegal contraband entering our prisons.
“All visitors are thoroughly searched before entry, and those caught smuggling contraband will face the full force of the law.
“HMP Brixton has recently stepped up intelligence led searches, as well as investing in new sniffer dogs and dog handlers.”
