Prison boss's baptism of fire

It has been, by any standards, a baptism of fire at a jail recently dubbed "reminiscent of a dungeon".

When Mr Carroll walked through the metal gates of Lewes Prison 15 months ago he could little have imagined the trouble brewing within its intimidating walls.

Since he took over, there have been four suicides, six attempted suicides, a damning watchdog report, growing drug problems and most recently a furore over visiting times.

In March, one of his prison officers Andrew Hubbard, 39, was jailed for seven years for operating a "mini drugs supermarket" behind bars.

Complaints last summer led to eight warders being suspended, although they were brought back when assault allegations collapsed.

It is within this environment that Mr Carroll, 48, must run a successful prison - in a cramped, crumbling fortress designed and built in the Victorian era.

He has earned a reputation for his no-nonsense approach during his 25-year career, which has taken him to Britain's toughest prisons, including HMP Belmarsh in London, HMP Bullingdon in Oxford and HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey.

Before taking on the top job at Lewes he was deputy governor at Canterbury.

On his arrival in Sussex he immediately made it clear that drugs would not be tolerated.

Any prisoner caught in possession is punished.

Any visitor passing drugs is prosecuted, as Paula Goodman, 45, discovered last week when she was jailed for four months for passing cannabis to her drug addict son.

CCTV cameras record the 26 tables in the visitors' room.

In one case, solicitor Martin Moore's plans to hand heroin to his client at magistrate's court were foiled when a lip-reader was called in to "listen" as the pair hatched their plan.

Moore, 45, of Shoreham, was jailed for three years.

Mr Carroll has tightened security checks at visits and introduced a drugs amnesty box for new arrivals.

He said: "A jail reflects the local community. There is a drugs problem in Sussex and the area also has a high suicide rate.

"The measures we have taken, including increased CCTV surveillance of visits, better searching of visitors, and better searching of prisoners leaving the visiting room has seen a drop in our drug testing figures.

"We have a responsibility to see our prisoners come off drugs and we have put in place a number of initiatives to assist prisoners. We have introduced voluntary drugs testing on the wings. We have had some significant successes this year.

"I will not compromise on drugs."

A watchdog's report written by the Board of Prison Visitors in March also focussed on the high incidence of suicide at the jail.

Mr Carroll has responded by introducing a first-night centre, where new prisoners are assessed, a suicide prevention co-ordinator, a substance misuse nurse and a psychiatric nurse in the medical centre.

His other priority has been improving the building.

He said: "You can smell the damp. It's largely because water gets behind the flint-based walls. We have an infrastructure problem.

"The Director General of the Prison Service is aware of it and has committed to a series of improvements.

"We are in negotiation with Lewes District Council about this."

Future building work could involve shutting a wing at a time as improvements are carried out.

He said: "I want to see a significant improvement in the conditions for the prisoners and staff.

"In years to come there may be a need to build another prison in the county but there are no plans at the moment."

One problem in recent years has been young offenders in F wing annoying local residents by shouting to each other at night.

This has been solved by moving the young offender section to the rear of the jail and putting vulnerable prisoners, who do not mix with other prisoners and are generally quieter, in F wing.

The prison is constantly under pressure.

It consistently houses a higher number of inmates than its comfortable limit of 485. Its maximum operating limit is 553 and the average number of prisoners each week is about 530.

However, Mr Carroll insists the prison is coping.

There has also been a traditionally high turnover of staff at the jail, particularly in the health centre where workers are being lured away by promised benefits from the NHS.

Changes to the visiting times have been the latest cause for concern.

The Argus has been contacted by several families complaining they cannot see their loved ones in jail.

In an attempt to tighten security, Mr Carroll altered arrangements.

The changes now allow one visiting session per day instead of two shorter ones.

But a storm of protest has seen this system reversed at weekends when demand is higher.

He has also reduced the advance-booking time to one week to stop visitors booking sessions too far in advance.

He said: "One of the reasons we introduced changes is to tackle the problem of drugs being passed.

"We had two visit sessions each day at 1.30pm and 3.30pm which meant we had to move two lots of prisoners and the opportunity to pass drugs was greater.

"I have an appalling visits room and I recognise there is a problem. We're trying to increase the number of visiting tables.

"My view is that the visiting room is for people to have visits from their families.

"Those people who want to see their wives and children should have a good period of time and should not feel their families are in an atmosphere where people push drugs."

Paul Carroll certainly has a tough job on his hands.

As the "dungeon" moves towards its 150th anniversary next year, one thing is clear - it will not be easy.