Probation employee tried to smuggle in contraband in a Lucozade bottle

A probation employee who tried to smuggle almost £7,000 value of medication and telephones into a jail after forming a ‘relationship’ with an inmate has been jailed for 3 years.

Alice Graham, now 33, was 28 when she tried to carry medicine together with Ketamine and cocaine into HMP Wealstun in a Lucozade bottle after turning into shut with the convict.

She had simply seven months’ expertise when she was caught by jail workers smuggling prohibited objects into the Category C males’s jail in 2021.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp mentioned she was given a ‘caseload’ of prisoners to handle when she certified for her probation employee function in 2020.

But she turned fond of 1 explicit convict who was a member of an organised crime gang and even made web searches for resorts in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, forward of his anticipated launch to a bail hostel.

On May 26, 2021, she tried to smuggle a stash of contraband together with class-A medicine, syringes, cell phones and sim playing cards value as much as £6,695 into the jail.

But Graham was stopped throughout a random search as she tried to enter the jail, the place she panicked and confirmed guards the objects she had hidden beneath her coat.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp, mentioned: ‘My submissions present this was a relationship very a lot on equal phrases with no trace of grooming, stress or intimidation. 

‘Some additional gentle could also be shed by feedback she had made to a colleague who recalled the defendant describing workers having relationships with serving prisoners and asking concerning the guidelines and he or she would not be in opposition to having one and expressing unhappiness that considered one of them was shortly leaving, having been given a Category D licence to maneuver to a bail hostel.

‘The Crown say after he requested her to take objects into jail for him and he or she did then, regardless of rumours circulating across the jail about their relationships.’

The court docket heard that in a telephone name, Graham was recorded as saying: ‘Everyone thinks I’m bent’ and in WhatsApp messages to a colleague on May 22, 2021 – 4 days earlier than she was caught smuggling objects in, she mentioned: ‘£800 a telephone I’ve been knowledgeable’ and ‘Let’s communicate to [inmate] on Friday, he’ll know all the tips.’

It was heard that the prisoner was getting launched to a bail hostel in Scunthorpe, the place Graham had looked for close by resorts, however maintained it was on behalf of the prisoner’s girlfriend, which was accepted by the Crown. 

She additionally purchased a brand new cell phone and gave the prisoner her quantity.

Mr Sharp mentioned: ‘An affiliate [of the inmate] ready an empty Lucozade bottle with a listing of things.’ 

The court docket heard the objects included sim playing cards, cell phones and chargers, syringes or needles for steroids, tobacco and cigarette papers, spice, hashish, cocaine and MDMA tablets. 

The worth of the objects was estimated to be between £6,415 and £6,695.

Graham drove to an handle to gather the objects and phoned the prisoner and instructed him ‘she received what he wished’ and ‘instructed him to be in his pad’. 

Mr Sharp mentioned: ‘At round 9am the defendant went into the jail with the bottle and its contents in her jacket pocket. The head of safety had determined to have a search of admin workers that day.

‘Staff have been taken to a hall and tablets have been set out with a canine handler and drug canine current. She went in and requested what was occurring and was instructed merely a workers search and nothing to be overly involved about. 

‘She made no try and reveal the bottle. Her ID was checked and her key chain and he or she was about to maneuver to the subsequent stage when she tried to go away and mentioned she wanted a licence signed and would come again later.

‘She was instructed she needed to stay and was taken to the desk.’

Graham was requested to take her jacket off however didn’t achieve this. 

Earphones that have been prohibited have been present in her again and ‘triggered’ her into saying: ‘I want to talk to somebody.’

Mr Sharp mentioned: ‘She was taken into an workplace and he or she produced the bottle and it was seized.’ 

Graham made admissions in her police interview, it was mentioned and asserted that she was beneath stress. She mentioned she had beforehand acquired a package deal to take into the jail however ‘threw it away and no penalties had adopted.’

She was given three years in jail at her sentencing on Friday, February 23, with Judge Kate Rayfield telling her she had ‘abused’ her place of accountability.

The decide mentioned: ‘He [the prisoner] was much more skilled within the legal justice system than you. The relationship crossed acceptable skilled boundaries.

‘You abused the trusted place as a probation officer.’

Graham described within the court docket how she had ‘grow to be shut’ with the prisoner, saying he was ‘very, very partaking’ and had ‘opened up’, however conceded it was a ‘ruse’.

And she claimed she felt sorry for the inmate, and he was ‘eager’ to remain in contact after his launch.

The objects included a 32gb reminiscence stick, eight SIM playing cards, three cell phones with chargers, two syringes, steroids, testosterone, tobacco, cigarette papers, spice, ketamine, cocaine, hashish and MDMA capsules.

The Crown mentioned there was no trace of stress or manipulation throughout recorded conversations between the pair.

She was additionally educated to identify tell-tale indicators and lift the alarm if she felt beneath stress from manipulative prisoners, which she didn’t do.

And she admitted expenses of conveying prohibited articles into a jail.

Mitigating on her behalf, Matthew Harding mentioned Graham was of earlier good character and had pleaded responsible to conveying prohibited objects into jail on the plea, trial and preparation listening to.

Mr Harding mentioned: ‘She began her function of probation officer throughout lockdown so for six months was at dwelling and not using a caseload and wasn’t getting precious expertise or going face-to-face with individuals in a custodial setting. 

‘The actuality was that when she began she had little or no – if any – sensible expertise with individuals who pose difficulties for these even with expertise.

‘You know from the pre-sentence report she accepts and signifies she could be very, very sorry for what she did.’ 

The court docket was instructed police knew of the prisoner and he was described as being a member of an organised crime gang and as a ‘subtle legal’.

Mr Harding mentioned: ‘The creator of the pre-sentence report – a report that pulls no punches – does state she was possible manipulated by the prisoner. The state of affairs was getting increasingly critical and he or she was extra out of her depth.

 ‘When she [Graham] heard that, she appreciated there had been a recognition of that.’ 

Mr Harding mentioned Graham had suffered ‘actual tragedy’ in her life and references described her as a ‘very completely different particular person to somebody who dedicated these offences and describe her as somebody very hard-working and devoted to serving to individuals in want’.

‘She maintains it was not a industrial enterprise for her half. If there was a sequence, there was no affect on it.’

He mentioned that regardless of shedding her job with the Probation Service, she was again in employment inside days.