THE Northern Echo has been highlighting the Spice crisis in North-East jails for almost a year now. We have told of prison officers “dropping like flies” after being exposed to the dangerous psychoactive drug.

Our reporters have spoken to an officer’s wife, who described Stockton’s Holme House Prison as a “powder keg ready to blow”, and covered inquests where Spice has been a factor in prisoner deaths. Workers have described how drones are being used to bring the drug into the jail, with health staff saying its effects are the worst of any drug they have seen.

Today, it is revealed that mental health bosses have withdrawn their services at a North-East jail because of fears staff are not safe, mainly due to the use of Spice by inmates.

As every new story emerges, each more serious than the last, the Prison Service insists it is taking action – recruiting more officers, and introducing new drug testing programmes, extra sniffer dogs and specialist teams to tackle the threat posed by drones.

How effective these measures are over the next few years remains to be seen, but so far, it would appear little has changed. Overall cuts to prison officer numbers combined with rising levels of assault and self harm have left morale in the service on the floor, with inmates themselves suffering missed rehabilitation opportunities.

Unless serious, long-term investment in recruiting, training and retaining large numbers of quality staff is combined with the existing security measures, the Spice epidemic is only going to get worse.