A partner of a long-serving officer at Holme House prison, Stockton, describes the shocking and devastating impact that passively inhaling the drug Spice in the jail is having on officers' lives

"MY partner has been subject to passive Spice twice in one week and it's having a profound effect on our relationship.

The first time he arrived home three hours earlier than his shift was due to finish. All he could manage to say was 'I’ve been spiced babe, they have told me to come home and sleep it off'.

The Northern Echo:

His eyes were bloodshot red, protruding from his eye sockets. He broke down crying like a baby as he sobbed into my arms. I was so concerned for his health and wellbeing. This is a man who is so laid back, calm, collective takes everything in his stride. This is not the man I know and love unconditionally. This is a man that is broken.

I assisted him into bed and asked 'how the hell have you got home'? He replied that he had driven home, which left me in shock and disbelief – bearing in mind we live a significant distance from the prison and the journey involved driving on a busy motorway at peak time.

The prison service allowed my partner to drive home. Can you imagine the devastating incident that could have happened whilst driving under the influence of drugs, and what if the police had pulled him over?

I went downstairs to get him some water, when I returned he was out of it, I couldn’t wake him. I immediately contacted our local GP, who asked me to try to rouse him.

When I gave him a small shake his hand shot up in an aggressive defence manner, muttered and again was flat out.

I knew not to try again as I am quite aware of one of the side effects of this drug and I did not want to be on the other end of his fist.

I was so angry that my partner, who has to be force fed a paracetamol when ill as he’s so anti-drug, had been subject to a drug that we know nothing about.

The next day he recalled nothing, only partially the two miles on the motorway back from the prison. He does not know how he managed to get home.

That evening I called the duty governor to ask why my partner was allowed to leave the prison grounds under the influence of a psychotic drug. The reply was 'he said he was ok' and that he had been offered a lift home and declined.

Since then, staff are not permitted to leave the prison on their own, they must be driven home by any member of staff available at that time and are given seven days to recover.

The second incident, seven days later, he was again 'spiced', again on a landing, this time with a colleague. After being brought home by a member of staff he slept 14 hours. This is a man that barely sleeps five hours a night.

Over the following week his temper was very short. I was concerned about if he became aggressive towards my son.

No one from the prison contacted me on either occasion.

Members of staff are checked by prison medical staff before they are sent home, and in some cases, have to force oxygen on to them.

In my opinion, every member of staff should be sent to the nearest local hospital and checked over before being allowed to return home. Relatives or family members should be contacted and under no circumstances should they be left on their own.

Drugs are rife in the jail. A work colleague informed me 'my son is in prison and says it’s on every corner within the prison. It’s so easy to get what you want it's easier than getting it outside'.

Prisoners on Spice have been known to walk around in a zombie state, eyes protruding, shuffling, swaying, head down to the point where their actual heads can be nearly touching the floor and then can pass out, with heart rates of nearly 240 beats per minute. It’s like a super drug, it’s as though they have the strength of five men and want to fight the world.

Prison officers are being subjected to this every day.

If ICI or British steel or any other working industry had a poisonous gas leakage, the place would be closed down immediately, with all members of their staff being evacuated, until the problem has been eradicated and resolved.

So why are our prison officers being sent into prison when the government are aware of the problem of a poisonous substance floating around in the air, on door handles, locks, bolts, paper, the list is endless. It’s a disgrace. They are failing our prison staff, stripping them of their rights as civilised human beings.

It’s only a matter of time before a member of staff dies, whether it be an overdose of Spice or a prisoner on Spice turning on the few staff that are left within the prison."