Express & Star comment: Don’t drone on about rights in jail

For too long these hi-tech gangs have appeared to be one step ahead of the police and it is clear more resources need to be used to prevent the use of these drones in supply contraband to prisons – which should surely be drug-free zones.

Surely the technology exists to block the signals used to control these drones, and also to block the use of mobile phones in a radius around a prison, preventing their use by both the smugglers and the inmates they are supplying?

There may be whines from a few do-gooders about interfering with prisoners’ rights, but these people are not in prison to be given access to all the comforts of home. If they are in prison then they have committed offences that carry a severe-enough penalty that their liberty is forfeit.

And that should include their liberty to use mobile phones and gain access to drugs. Indeed, it appears drugs are more easily available in prison than they are in the outside world.

That is no doubt in part due to the activities such as those of the gang now jailed, who are said to have flown £500,000 worth of drugs into seven prisons, as part of a wider conspiracy responsible for around 100 drug deliveries. The police and the prison authorities need the wherewithal to be able to tackle such sophisticated plots.

This one involved the use of 11 drones and it was only when one landed short of the target that police were able to secure the evidence needed to solve the case.

We live in an increasingly technological world, and we must ensure the forces of law and order can keep pace with the criminals making use of this technology for their own nefarious ends.

And, when they are caught, they must be punished. We applaud presiding judge Simon Drew QC, who said tough sentences were ‘essential’ to try and stamp out such plots.

It is a vital part of the deterrent needed to make the cost to criminals so high that they will think twice before trying such a venture. They are driven by greed and profit. When they are caught, they must pay a heavy price.