It is just before dawn and I am one of dozens of staff arriving to start our shifts at HMP Bedford.
Walking through the prison’s front door, I flash an ID to someone on reception and then carry on walking, straight through security.
I pass a stack of trays — the kind used in airports for the x-ray baggage scanners — but no one is using them, and the prison’s scanner appears to be switched off.
I carry on through a large arch metal detector and its alarm goes off — probably because I haven’t taken off any of my prison uniform, or emptied out the keys, wallet and other items in my pockets. But there is no one manning the scanners, so I just
