[1] As a consequence of this and other security breaches, such as when inmate Gareth Connett was suspected of making a handgun in the metal workshop in August 1992, prison officers were drafted in from all around the country for a full stand down search in which many homemade weapons were found.

[citation needed] In August 1998, the then Governor of Long Lartin, Jim Mullen claimed that mentally ill inmates at the prison faced unacceptable delays before being transferred to appropriate secure hospital accommodation.

However the report also cited serious deficiencies in areas such as race relations, the overloaded and understaffed drug treatment team, and too many prisoners being locked up instead of in work.

At the time, two-thirds of inmates were serving life sentences, and in common with other prisons Long Lartin had had staffing cuts of about 20%.

[8] Martin Evans of The Daily Telegraph described Long Lartin as one of the UK's "top security jails", and that the prisoners included "some of Britain's most notorious".