Sudbury Prison opened after the war, utilizing a site which had previously been used as a hospital for American servicemen. Some of the original buildings still exist on what is now a huge complex containing administration buildings, various large workshops, education block, theatre, chapel, dining hall, games room and dormitories for up to 570 inmates, all surrounded by beautifully tended and landscaped gardens.

Sudbury is a category D establishment or open prison, far different to young offenders, high security or closed prisons. It houses inmates who have committed any crimes other than sex offences.

Until recently there was no security fencing, just a sparse hedge around the boundary. Prisoners are not locked up at night, but allowed to have their own keys to the single or double cells. Every day, some of the inmates will leave the prison to go to work in a variety of jobs, or to visit local towns, whilst others work within the prison in a wide range of jobs. Only prisoners over the age of 65 are classed as retired and not found employment of some form.

For many of the prisoners, a stay at Sudbury is at the end of a long sentence where they will be given the opportunity to rehabilitate into society. They are put in a position of trust and given back some responsibility to look after themselves. However, this does not mean that there are no rules or regulations – far from it!

Prisoners who abscond or do not return on time will be punished, as will anyone found in possession of illegal substances such as drugs, alcohol, mobile phones, weapons etc. The penalty could be cancellation of any outside visits or work leave, an extended sentence, or a return to closed prison and loss of privileges.

This is where the dogs come in. At Sudbury, which is a low security establishment, they only use either passive or active sniffer dogs, purely to locate hidden or concealed illegal or forbidden substances.  Sudbury currently has two such dogs, Buzz and Bailey who work with their handler Prison Officer Ricky Vine.

Although both Alfie and I went on the visit to Sudbury to meet Buzz and Bailey, unfortunately Alfie had to remain outside the perimeter of the prison because unlicensed dogs are not permitted on the premises. I was allowed in though, so I suppose the article should really be called Sally’s Adventures, and I certainly had a fascinating morning!

Rick has been in the prison service for 13 years, the last five being at Sudbury. In a few weeks he will be joined by another handler and dog who are both currently in training at Doncaster.

Rick has his own office with a large kennel and run attached. Here I met Bailey and Buzz who are an energetic double act that are incredibly skilled and highly trained.

Bailey is an 18-month old golden Labrador, originally from Cardiff. He was donated to the prison service by his previous owner who could not cope with his boisterous personality. He is a passive dog, which means that he is kept on the lead when working, and used to search inmates and visitors. If he makes a find, Bailey will sit and alert the handler to something suspicious.

Buzz is a 4-year old Springer spaniel, again donated to the prison service, by a breeder of gun dogs who frequently contributes a puppy from one of his litters. Buzz is the active dog which means that he is loose when working and is used to search premises, objects and vehicles as well as people. If Buzz makes a find he will initially stand off and alert Rick, and then if instructed, will dig and scratch frantically to retrieve whatever it is, barking madly all the time.

Both dogs get lots of exercise, with several walks during the day, either around the prison grounds or across neighbouring fields. At night they go home with Rick, and are treated like family pets. A prison dog’s career is relatively short, normally around 4-6 years before they retire. Although a handler is given the choice of keeping their dogs, Rick prefers his dogs to have a new life after their time ‘inside’ and will often re-home them with friends or family. His last dog Barney was a collie and is enjoying his retirement on a farm.

Buzz is top dog because he is the oldest and has been at Sudbury the longest. He loves to play games especially with his favourite ball and often teases Bailey with it, and being a Springer there is nothing he likes better than playing in water or mud. Bailey is a lovable bouncy bundle of fun and extremely friendly, he still acts like a puppy and loves to play tug of war with his toys. It will be interesting when the new dog arrives though as this is a female black Labrador!

Rick and his dogs undergo annual assessments which they must all pass to remain licensed and qualified in their work, and there are regular training days away from Sudbury when they meet up with other dogs and handlers. The dogs in particular love these as they get the chance to show off their skills as well as play games with other prison dogs, sometimes ending in little scraps. Rick says it is always the passive dogs that cause the problems!

The prison service is currently training a new type of sniffer dog to be known as a ‘hooch dog’, used specifically to detect hidden alcohol. It looks like there will always be a need for prison dogs, and the demand is unfortunately increasing. With only one in about 20 dogs being successful in training, the prison service is always on the lookout for puppies and young dogs to be donated.

Although many of the inmates may like the dogs and genuinely want to pet them, this is strictly forbidden. Prison dogs are extremely good at what they do, and are therefore a target and threat, and it has been known for them to be poisoned or killed, especially by drug uses that are often desperate to smuggle substances into prison, and it is not unusual for a ‘contract’ to be put out on a prison dog. At some of the more secure units, both dogs and handlers have their own guards to protect them.

Buzz and Bailey are trained to sniff out cannabis, heroin, cocaine and amphetamines, but Buzz is so clever, that he can also locate other hidden items including syringes, money, mobile phones, sim cards or other forms of drugs or tablets. Often the dogs are looking for the tiniest quantities of drugs, or something which has only been tainted or contaminated with its scent.

The presence of drugs in prisons causes all kinds of problems, not just with the obvious dangers and effects to the users, but also behavioural problems, bullying, debt and intimidation.

Many prisoners do not like drugs and will tip off the officers if they suspect another inmate is concealing something suspicious. As well as regular random searching, this is when the dogs will be brought in. Rick showed me some of the items that have been found within the prison where something illegal was hidden. It was absolutely amazing to see the lengths that someone will go to!

For example, a lovely solid wooden ashtray with thin leather straps to decorate it. Hidden under the straps were some tiny little screws which when undone revealed a small compartment. Shampoo bottles or tins thought to contain beans or peaches for example had been carefully and craftily modified. There was even an innocent plank of wood screwed under the base of a bed along with the other slats which Buzz sniffed out as being suspicious. When the bed was dismantled, it was found that the wood had been hollowed out and contained a small stash of drugs.

Visitors to the prison often try to smuggle drugs in using a variety of methods, more often than not though the drugs are inserted somewhere personal, where the guards cannot search! Bailey’s nose will sniff them out though, and the visitor is kept under strict observation for the rest of the visit.

Rick gave me a guided tour of the prison and showed me some of the workshops including where boots are made for the prison service, and skills such as ironmongery, building and decorating are taught. In the joinery workshop beds are made for the prison as well as items to be sold in the prison shop. Many of the new buildings I was shown were erected by the prisoners themselves, and there was the most wonderful brick and timber water garden, stocked with Koi carp, all the work of the inmates. Sudbury tries in many ways to supplement its overheads whilst training and re-settling prisoners back into gainful employment.

Next, I was given a demonstration of Buzz at his best, when Rick hid a small quantity of drugs in the visitor’s room. Buzz searched the room systematically, his nose twitching like mad as he jumped over the furniture sniffing at all the chairs and tables before barking frantically in front of a set of shelves. Sure enough, just out of reach was the tiniest pack of cannabis concealed within a thick plastic tube.

By now it was visiting time once again and a queue was forming at the gate. Bailey was taken from the compound to begin his job of searching everyone, and it was time for me to go home. Rick escorted me to the gate where Alfie was looking excitedly out of the back window of my car for my release.

I felt extremely honoured to be given a guided tour of Sudbury, and to meet Rick and his amazing dogs. I told Alfie all about it on my drive home and assured him that the next adventure we would go on together, as I could tell that he was feeling a bit left out.

This article was written by Sally Mosley as part of a series of articles about dogs involved in charities or working dogs in the Peak District. Sally is available for public speaking, one of the talks being about her experiences whilst researching and writing these articles. For further information please visit www.sallymosley.co.uk or email mail@sallymosley.co.uk