The criminals who want to get caught so they can 'run a business' in prison

It's one of the toughest jobs prisons face. How do you stop banned items such as drugs and mobile phones being smuggled inside?

An inquest into the death of an inmate at Forest Bank in Salford shed some light on some of the bizarre ways contraband is brought in - and what steps are being taken to try and stop it.

The hearing was told that some offenders were choosing to get locked up so they could get drugs inside - using the time as free men to collect drugs, before breaching parole in a bid to get sent to jail with the supplies.

Read more: Yoga, sniffer dogs and dirty showers: A year in the life of a Greater Manchester prison

Marie Durning, head of security and operations at Forest Bank, told the inquest in Bolton criminals 'will try every way imaginable to get illicit substances in'. And Forest Bank, as a 'local prison' where most of those locked up are from the north west and Greater Manchester region, faces a bigger problem than most.

"Every prison will have issue with illicit articles, but it's greater in the local prisons," Ms Durning said. "The extent of conveyance into prisons is huge."

Inmates use associates, friends and family members to smuggle drugs and mobiles by lobbing them over the perimeter walls or fences, which are then picked up during exercise. Drones are also also being used to fly packages direct to cell windows, Ms Durning said.

In recent months the prison has fitted new windows and put up tougher, higher netting over the exercise yard to combat the practice. But to try and breach the security the smugglers have taken to throwing flaming missiles onto the meshing, she said.

Letters to inmates are also soaked in drugs, often psychoactive substances such as Spice. The paper is then crumbled up