On Christmas Day, prison officer Richard Goss’ life crumbled as he was caught for his contraband smuggling at HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale, Manchester. The 45 year old initially threw suspicion on to another colleague after a stash of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, phones, syringes and needles was discovered in the laundry room.
However, when it became clear that he was the suspect, Goss partly confessed to the crimes, claiming he had acted under duress. At his trial, prosecutors argued he was spinning “desperate” tales, revealing evidence of him messaging on “Plenty of Fish” during the period he allegedly faced threats.
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Liverpool Crown Court had to discharge his jury in February due to “new evidence”—a development reported by Manchester Evening News—resulting in a re-trial set-up.
But in a stunning turn on Tuesday (October 29), Goss plead guilty to all six charges against him: three counts of drug supply and three counts of transporting banned items into jail. He earned himself a four-year and two-month stint behind bars, courtesy of a judge at Manchester Crown Court.
The court heard that Goss, from Esmount Drive, Middleton, started his career with the prison service in April 2015, undergoing a ten-week intensive training programme. He was then transferred to HMP Buckley Hall, a Category C men’s prison in Rochdale, in December of the same year, reports the Mirror.
On Christmas Eve 2019, after the inmates were locked down, officers searched the laundry room of ‘B’ wing but found nothing suspicious, according to Liverpool Crown Court. The following morning, another officer discovered two plastic drinks bottles and three Tetra Pak cartons hidden in one of the dryers during a second search before releasing the prisoners.
Inside these containers, they found 18 wraps of brown resin, a wrap of green herbal cannabis, 30 tobacco wraps, three litres of alcohol, steroids in both tablet and liquid form, three iPhones, two charging leads, security tools, syringes, needles, and Rizla papers. CCTV footage revealed that Goss was on duty from Christmas Eve into Christmas Day and had visited ‘B’ wing around 9.45 pm while delivering post throughout the prison.
Goss was seen carrying a rucksack and plastic bag from his car into the laundry room. He was suspended on December 30, 2019, and upon hearing the news, he claimed that his family was under threat.
The man was arrested and questioned, denying any involvement in smuggling items into the prison. He claimed that he had picked up something from an enclosed area near the mess hall and moved it to ‘B’ wing during his shift.
This action, he said, was prompted by threats from “an unknown male, with a Liverpudlian accent, who confronted him outside his home on the morning of Christmas Eve.”
However, when re-interviewed in July 2020 and shown CCTV footage proving he hadn’t collected items from the mess hall, he altered his story, stating he “saying he actually collected the items from a locker room situated within the administration block of the prison prior to delivering the post across the prison.”
He alleged that a female prison officer, whom he named, had brought the items into the prison. In a third interview in October 2020, he suggested that the man who threatened him was connected to two inmates, and that the female prison officer was involved in an inappropriate relationship with one of them.
John Richards, prosecuting at the trial, stated: “The Crown say this was an attempt by the defendant to try and shift the blame towards another officer. ” He also informed the jury that when CCTV and automatic number plate recognition were examined to identify the vehicle Goss claimed the threatening man used, the police found nothing. Telematics from Goss’s rental motor and a deep dive into his mobile revealed that on Christmas Eve morning, he parked outside his home at 7.27 am, and within five minutes, he was busy texting a woman he’d met on ‘Plenty of Fish’. “This may be wholly inconsistent with him being threatened outside his address in the way he describes,” Mr Richards pointed out. “The Crown say the explanation about him being threatened and forced to take the items into prison is a desperate and provable lie.”
A hearing to discuss the proceeds of crime in Goss’ case is set for March 19 next year.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said in: “The overwhelming majority of our prison staff are hardworking and honest and we are dedicated to rooting out those who are not – including by bolstering our Counter-Corruption Unit and strengthening our vetting processes.
“We are working to rebuild our prisons and tackle the drug trade in our jails, to help offenders turn their backs on crime and keep our staff safe.”
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