HMP Parc: Bereaved mum calls for more searches in prison after son's suspected drugs death

• A special report by ITV Wales' Daniel Bevan and Alexandra Hartley

A mother has called for more to be done to stop drugs getting into HMP Parc after her son died from a suspected spice overdose in the Bridgend prison.

It comes as one former inmate who was recently released told ITV Wales that drugs are as easy to get inside HMP Parc as a newspaper.

17 people have died at HMP Parc in this year alone. Not all of those deaths are drug-related but eight have been put down to non-natural causes.

South Wales Police has said the drug Nitazene, an opioid which can be many times stronger than heroin, has been connected to four of the prisoners who have died.

Nitazenes have been known to have been mixed into spice, a synthetic drug made to mimic the effects of cannabis.

Around 700 prison staff were trained to use the anti-opioid medicine naloxone amid a spate of nine deaths in three months earlier this year.

• Ryan Harding

Ryan Harding died from an apparent overdose on the synthetic drug spice a short time after speaking to his mum Catherine in January 2023. An inquest into his death is yet to take place.

Catherine says she was completely unaware that her son was taking hard drugs.

The 26-year-old was coming to the end of an 18 month-sentence for causing criminal damage and making threats to kill.

"The last time I spoke to him was the day before he died," Catherine told ITV Wales.

"He said ‘are you still sending me money, mam?’ and ‘I love you, mam’. I didn’t know that was the last time I was going to hear from him.”

Catherine said: “He only had seven weeks left [in prison] and he was looking forward to coming out and changing his life.

“I don’t understand it. I just don’t understand it at all.

“I blame G4S and the prison [for Ryan’s death] because they allowed drugs to come into the prison.

"You go to the prison to visit somebody and you’re searched. Why aren’t the prison officers?

"That spice is lethal and if my son knew he would die he wouldn’t have taken it. Definitely not.”

G4S, the company which manages the prison, says security measures have been significantly strengthened, including an increase in the number of dedicated searching staff, patrol dogs and specialist equipment like drug detection devices and X-ray body scanners.

It added that, as with all closed prisons, Parc is fighting an ongoing battle with organised crime groups who seek to traffic drugs into prisons using various routes.

• Ex-prisoner: 'It’s widely available'

Nearly two years on from Ryan’s death, one former prisoner who has been recently released from HMP Parc says spice is easy to get hold of when you’re inside and the drugs getting in leads to violence.

“I’ve witnessed people getting slashed or cut up, mainly over drugs", he told ITV Wales.

“If you go to a newsagents and get a newspaper, [getting spice is] the same as that. It’s widely available.”

A HMP Parc spokesperson said: “We send our condolences to Ms Harding and the other families who have lost loved ones.

“The majority of the allegations made by the ex-prisoner are categorically not true.

“Significant effort and resources are used to tackle the supply of illegal drugs and we work closely with South Wales Police to provide intelligence and evidence.

“The vast majority of our staff are honest and hard working. In the rare cases where staff are found to have been engaged in wrongdoing, robust action is taken, up to and including prosecution.

“We have worked at pace this year on six key areas - staffing, safety, security, drugs, regime and respect. Outcomes are improving in these areas. Incidents of violence have fallen significantly between April and October 2024.”

They added: "The key routes for drug ingress are drones and people attempting to bring contraband in during visits. All visitors to the prison are searched.

"We actively counter the risk of staff bringing contraband into the prison. For example, in October, over 1,500 searches were carried out on members of staff, including entry searches and night searches."