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Management at HMP Parc in Bridgend should act more quickly after the first drug-related death, says a former prison boss.

Vanessa Frake is the former head of security and operations at Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London and says major searches for drugs should be carried out at the prison in Bridgend.

Ten inmates have died at the private prison since February 27, at least four believed to be drug-related, while one prison staff member has been arrested for drug-related offenses there.

Officials at HMP Parc, run by security firm G4S, said they were “actively tackling the various ways drugs get into prisons” and strengthening security measures.

Ms Frake, has 27 years’ experience in the prison service, and said: “To have a total of 10 deaths in three months is almost unheard of.

“I think if I lose one prisoner to drugs, I will do something and not wait until two, three and four die.

“I know the prison and the probation ombudsman are asking prisoners to dispose of any spice they may have, and I think that’s all.

“It looks like certain procedures like searching cells, searching prisoners, searching passing staff.”

Parc Prison director Heather Whitehead, who has been in charge since August 2023, is leaving with immediate effect on Tuesday.

Will Styles, who has been with G4S for a year running HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire, has been appointed as the new director.

Ms Frake added: “There are a number of things that can be done to prevent drugs from entering prisons.”

He said one of them was to get a canine search team to “sweep the prison for drugs”.

Commenting on what he will do, he added: “Check every prisoner, every cell, every area. Then I will look at the prison search policy and see if it is strong enough.

“Strong search policy is the most important, If there is a strong search, it will be a deterrent.

“Nobody wants to work in a jail full of drugs.”

The 10 deaths at Parc Prison so far this year are the highest number of prisons in Wales on record.

It is now almost double the rate of 6.4 deaths per 1,000, compared to the UK prison average (year to March 2024) of 3.3 deaths per 1,000.

The highest number before a year was also at the Parc – nine in 2016.

At least four deaths are believed to be drug-related, while one prison staff member has been arrested in connection with drugs there.

South Wales Police said in March that Nitazene – a synthetic opioid drug – had been identified as being linked to the four deaths.

The force said spice, another synthetic drug, had been identified in two of the four deaths.

Leo Deacon, 23, of Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, served time at HMP Cardiff and HMP Parc in 2021 for assaulting a police officer.

Mr Deacon had undergone treatment for alcohol addiction and said he was offered drugs while he was in the induction wing at Parc Prison.

“The staff is very different at Parc Prison, it’s not as staffed as Cardiff prison and it doesn’t have the same equipment,” he said.

“The staff in Cardiff are equipped like the police, they will have pepper spray, batons and handcuffs.

“They don’t have it at the Parc, they just have a radio and they don’t train in the same way.

“If something happens, like a prisoner of war, it’s dealt with quickly in Cardiff, but at the Parc it takes longer to get it under control.

“There are more inexperienced staff at the Parc, they look young, some are the same age as me and I was only 20 at the time.”

Mr Deacon said his brother was also currently an inmate at Parc Prison and had been in custody since March.

He said it was a worrying time for his family with 10 inmates killed while his brother was there.

“They have appointed a new director from Five Wells Prison, which is also a failed prison and appointed another failed prison with Parc,” he said.

“I am pleased that the Minister of Justice is taking over Parc with his staff.”

An independent monitoring board (IMB) report for Five Wells in Northamptonshire published last September found there were too many “inexperienced operational staff” and “reluctance by wing staff to challenge prisoners.

The IMB also said drugs were available in several housing blocks at Lima Wells Prison.

The family of an inmate at HMP Parc who died while in prison protested outside the facility last month, saying they want answers from authorities following allegations of drug abuse at the jail.

HMP Parc is one of the largest category B prisons in the UK, holding adult and young offenders, as well as convicted sex offenders or those awaiting trial for sex offences.

A spokesman said: “We are actively tackling the various ways in which drugs enter prisons from the wider community while continuously strengthening our security measures to protect prisoners and staff.

“This includes random and intelligence searches of staff, visitors and prisoners.”