Yet another nail in the coffin for justice in this country. Where is the punishment if prisons are like this?
Inmates are so comfortable in jail that they do not want to escape, a prison officer union leader says.
Glyn Travis of the Prison Officers Association says inmates are happy to stay inside because they can get hold of drugs, mobile phones and even sex.
He said a dealer regularly broke into a Yorkshire prison by using a ladder to enter cell windows - but no inmate used the ladder as a means of escape.
The Prison Service said the prisoners were never in a position to escape.
'Serious crisis'
Mr Travis said the authorities only became aware of the security breaches at low-security category C Everthorpe prison, near Brough, East Yorkshire, in January.
"The prisoners didn't take this opportunity because we believe life is so cushy within the prison system," he said.
During the incident, at no time were prisoners out of their cells or able to access any other areas of the prison
Prison Service
"We have got no-go areas in certain prisons because prisoners have got complete control. There is not sufficient staff, there is no interaction between staff.
"We have got a serious crisis in our prisons today."
Mr Travis blamed a shortage of prison officers and relaxed regimes, where prisoners enjoyed satellite television and video game consoles.
He said that efficiency savings had reduced staff levels and the supervision of prisoners.
"Drugs are coming into prisons at a rate that's so dramatic that drugs in prison are actually cheaper than on the outside," he added.
A spokesman for the Prison Service said: "During the incident, at no time were prisoners out of their cells or able to access any other areas of the prison.
"Immediate action was taken with extra fencing, the removal of trees, extra CCTV cameras, and the transfer of the offender involved to another establishment."
Mr Travis claimed there have been similar incidents in other prisons.
In Sudbury prison in Derbyshire he said there was even an attempt to smuggle in prostitutes.
Conservative justice spokesman Nick Herbert called for a "fundamental shake-up" of prisons.
"Prisons should be places of hard work and restoration, preparing offenders to go straight. Instead we have overcrowded jails where drugs are rife, prisoners are too often idle and there is little purposeful activity."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said prison conditions were appropriate.
"The punishment of the court is loss of liberty - harsh regimes do not lead to rehabilitation or a reduction in reoffending," he said
And giving them cushy environments with access to the latest games consoles and other luxuries is the way forward I suppose?
Prison should be harsh, its meant to be a deterrent so that people know being banged up is going to be unpleasant.
