A FATHER-OF-SEVEN is one of the latest inmates to die at a County Durham prison following a string of drug-related deaths.

An investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into the death of HMP Durham inmate Jordan White, has raised concerns following the discovery he obtained pills with "apparent ease" prior to his 2018 death.

Mr White, who had tested positive for cocaine when entering the prison, was prescribed pregabalin despite his history.

His postmortem found he had taken a fatal combination of buprenorphine, diazepam and alprazolam.

Ombudsman Sue McAllister said: "The inspection report concluded that one of the most pressing needs was to reduce the supply of drugs and the prison had put in place a good strategy to address this.

"However, modern equipment to help with this had been diverted for use in another prison."

There have been 20 deaths at Durham since January 2017.

At least four of these have been drug-related.

The most recent inspection of HMP Durham in October 2018 revealed that safety had been seriously undermined by the ready availability of drugs and inspectors were concerned about the number of suspected drug-related deaths.

They found that 47 per cent of prisoners were being seen by the drug and alcohol recovery team and 30 per cent said they had developed a drug problem at Durham.

In the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman report published this month, the prison has been told that the head of healthcare should ensure that prisoners only receive in possession medication after a consistent, recorded risk assessment that is regularly reviewed.

Inspectors also said in the future the governor should ensure that the key drug issues at Durham are identified and that the prison’s rugs strategy is revised to ensure that these key issues are being addressed.

The Ministry of Justice has since installed an x-ray scanner, improved CCTV and expanded netting at HMP Durham to stop drugs getting in.