#Suspicious package birmingham upgrade
#Suspicious package birmingham windows

Another team went to the Travelodge hotel on Broad Street to deal with a suspicious package which proved to be a box with wires and a switch.Īsked if the force had overreacted in the wake of the London attacks, Mr Scott-Lee said: 'There was a significant threat. The packages were incidental to the threat we were responding to.'īomb disposal teams used a mobile robot to carry out four controlled explosions on a double-decker bus parked close to the Square Peg pub in Corporation Street in the city centre. 'I believe this threat was significant for me to authorise this evacuation. 'I can tell you that, bearing in mind the current world climate, the information we received posed a real threat to the lives of people in the city centre,' said Mr Scott-Lee. Mr Scott-Lee said officers had to react following calls from members of the public and said he and his team had been influenced by the bombings in London on Thursday. The police would have been quite wrong if they had ignored the threat which came to them.' I think both the police acted entirely professionally and the people living in Birmingham acted entirely professionally. 'That is why the police acted as they did. 'There was a serious threat,' Mr Clarke told the BBC. Mr Scott-Lee was backed by the home secretary, Charles Clarke, who praised the response of both police and public. The Birmingham shutdown followed the closure of Manchester's main railway station after the discovery of a suspect package. There had been a 'real and significant' threat to lives, he added. Twelve hours of carnage saw hundreds of prisoners get out of their cells after keys were seized, and an estimated £3 million pounds worth of damage was caused.Paul Scott-Lee admitted the packages on a bus and at a hotel were neither bombs nor hoax explosive devices, but stressed information received by officers had been significant enough to warrant the evacuation. Last December, it made headlines when a mass riot broke out. HMP Birmingham was built in 1849 is a Category B prison which can hold 1,450 prisoners. “Fifty per cent of prisoners told us it was easy to get drugs, and one in seven was acquiring a drug habit while in the jail.” It stated: “The safety and stability of the prison was clearly being adversely affected by the high volume of illicit drugs, particularly new psychoactive substances which were available. Work to clamp down on contraband follows a damning report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, published in February. Some inmates, near the end of their stretch, will complete sentences in other prisons, the Sunday Mercury understands. Those moved out had either completed their sentence or period on remand, the G4S spokesman pointed out. 'We are working closely with HM Prison and Probation Service throughout.” “While the work will require us to close the wing for several months, it will improve the security of everyone who lives and works at the prison. “We are also enhancing perimeter security to toughen our defences and prevent the supply of prohibited items in an area that is routinely targeted by organised criminals on the outside.

#Suspicious package birmingham windows

“The work will see the replacement of windows and grills of G wing, which is close to the outer walls of the prison and accommodates up to 116 men, to deter contraband being thrown over the wall or delivered by drones. Rioting HMP Birmingham prisoners chanted 'we want burn' and demanded tobacco during seven-hour unrest.

#Suspicious package birmingham upgrade

That is happening alongside the general refurbishment of one of the oldest parts of the prison.ĭeputy director at HM Prison Birmingham, Andy Sleight, said: “HM Prison Birmingham dates back to the Victorian era and this week significant works will begin in one of its oldest wings to strengthen security and upgrade electrical systems. While G4S stressed the move was not sparked by last Wednesday’s discovery, it confirmed work was being carried out to prevent inmates accessing “contraband”.

Birmingham Prison bosses received 'indicators' of £6m riot BEFORE rampage began - report.

“Some say it contained phones.” Read More Related Articles “I was told the package was found in the early hours and there are all kinds of rumours flying around. I know some are going to Blakenhurst (a Redditch category B prison). One said: “There are over 100 on G Wing and they’re moving some out now.