Legal highs: SIX Oakwood Prison inmates fall ill after taking psychoactive substances

Six inmates were seen by medical staff at the Staffordshire prison, with two taken to hospital for treatment. And a source told the Express & Star that it is believed a drone was seen flying over the site in Featherstone the night before the inmates were taken to hospital.

Ambulance crews were called to the site, between Penkridge and Wolverhampton, at around 10.44am on Thursday.

The prisoners were treated after a bad reaction to the new psychoactive substances – known as NPS.

Director of HMP Oakwood, John McLaughlin, said: "On Thursday, May 5, two prisoners were taken to hospital but returned to HMP Oakwood soon afterwards.

"Lethal highs and synthetic drugs pose a threat to the safety of prisoners and undermine our regime. They have no place in our community and we will always work with police to take action against prisoners and their criminal associates outside who try and bring them into Oakwood.

"I would like to thank prison staff and our healthcare colleagues from Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust for their prompt action in response to this incident, which serves as a warning to everyone in our community of the dangers of these kinds of substances." The NHS Trust provides all health care services at the prison.

Murray MacGregor, spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "We were called at 10.44am on Thursday to six patients who had apparently taken some sort of illicit substance. Two patients were taken to New Cross Hospital and four patients were discharged."

As well as ambulance crews, an area response team, emergency planner and the Midlands Air Ambulance were all sent to the scene.

South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson has now demanded more be done to tackle the problem of contraband in prions.

He said: "What it does go to show is how more and more needs to be done to crack down on illicit contraband going into prisons and sentences for those who are found using them and dealing them in prisons. People who are found using substances and dealing those substances should see substantial extensions to their sentences and those who are helping to facilitate getting it into prison should be facing a very long prison sentence."

He said the methods of getting contraband into prisons had become 'more elaborate'. "It has gone from visitors handing over contraband to people throwing contraband over the fences to drones being used."