British Jail Staff Red-Faced after Inmates Get Drunk on Anti-Swine Flu Gel

LONDON – Authorities at a British prison had to remove a hand gel meant to fight swine flu after inmates were found drunk on the alcoholic cleaner.

Recently, dispensers containing the liquid cleanser were installed to protect the prisoners at category C Verne Prison in Dorset against H1N1.

But instead of rubbing it into their hands, they started making illicit booze when they realised it contained alcohol, The Sun reports.

“The cleansers were to combat swine flu but as soon as they were put out the prisoners started taking the stuff. The canisters have now all been removed from the wings but I couldn’t quite believe it when they were put out in the first place,” a prison source said.

Prison staff got suspicious with a sudden rise in the number of tipsy convicts.

They got to know about the bizarre makeshift booze when one inmate became aggressive after downing the “hooch” and started a drunken fight with another.

“There was a fight after one of the prisoners got violent,” the paper quoted the source as saying.

The distilled gel was believed to have been mixed with fruit and water.

Andy Fear, of the Prison Officer’s Association, said: “Inmates have been incorrectly using the dispensers, for want of a better phrase.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “A prisoner at Her Majesty’s Prison The Verne showed signs of intoxication, the cause of which will be investigated. Antibacterial gel pumps have been removed.”