El gel para lavarse las manos es multiusos

Prohíben el gel de manos en una prisión británica después de que los reclusos se emborracharan con él

Un tipo de gel de manos que contiene una pequeña proporción de alcohol etílico, y que está destinado a proteger a los reos del contagio de la gripe A, ha sido prohibido en una la prisión de Verne, en el Reino Unido, después de que un grupo de reclusos se lo bebieran y, borrachos, se peleasen entre ellos. El director de la prisión ya ha ordenado retirar los dispensadores de jabón.

Prisoners drunk on hand gel

Alcohol hand gel meant to combat swine flu has been banned from a prison after inmates became embroiled in a drunken brawl after drinking it.

The detergent was meant to beat off the threat of swine flu in the Verne Prison on Portland, Dorset, reports the Daily Telegraph.

However, instead of rubbing it into their hands, inmates at the category C prison have been placing their mouths over the dispensers and consuming it.

Prison officers had expressed their concerns at suddenly having to deal with a number of drunken convicts before the brawl erupted.

It is thought one prisoner became aggressive after downing the gel and started a fist fight with another inmate. Now the governor of the Verne has removed all of the dispensers from the prison.

Andy Fear, a member of the Verne's Prison Officer's Association committee, said: "These canisters were originally put out because of the swine flu threat.

"It was subsequently reported by some association members working here that the inmates had been incorrectly using them, for want of a better phrase.

"The suspicion that was reported to us was that some of the inmates had drunk them. Of course some of the officers expressed concerns over potentially having to deal with prisoners who have had a drink."

Tim Roberts, branch chairman of the POA, said the association had raised concerns when it was first announced that the gel dispensers were being placed in the prison.

He said: "We had reservations when the plan was first mooted. Our members have been concerned and the latest incident seems to bear out those concerns."