This is the moment a prison visitor was caught brazenly slipping cocaine across a table with a Pot Noodle and Pringles during a visit to an inmate behind bars.
Terry Kenton, 56, was filmed on CCTV handing over the wrap of Class A drug to his former cellmate, Mitchell Dyke, 29, during a visit to HMP Cardiff.
The pair had previously shared a cell, and Kenton, who had since been released, returned to the jail to deliver what he later claimed was a favour to his friend.
But the drug drop was spotted in real time by a prison officer, and Kenton is now back behind bars, jailed for two years after admitting supplying the substance.
The footage shown to Newport Crown Court shows Kenton, of Newport, and a woman sitting with Dyke in the prison visiting hall last year.
They were chatting over snacks when Kenton discreetly pushed the 2.15g package of cocaine across the table with the inmate’s refreshments.
But it was spotted by officer Daniel Hampson, who intervened moments later and seized the drugs.
The court heard how Kenton and Dyke became friends after they had shared a jail cell together.
Terry Kenton, 56, left, was filmed on CCTV handing over the wrap of cocaine to his former cellmate, Mitchell Dyke, 29, during a visit to HMP Cardiff
The pair had previously shared a cell, and Kenton, who had since been released, returned to the jail to deliver what he later claimed was a favour to his friend
While Kenton, the woman and Dyke were chatting together, having refreshments in the visiting area, the defendant slipped the drugs over to the inmate on the table with his snacks.
Miss Harmes said: ‘Aggravating factors in this case are that these drugs were taken into prison and supplied to a known user.’
His barrister, Paul Hewitt, said in mitigation: ‘The defendant does have a substantial record but none for drug offences, although he is a drug user.
‘He committed this offence out of some kind of misguided loyalty to his friend. The defendant did not do it for any financial gain.’
Adding: ‘He’s done his best to get off drugs. The defendant has a diagnosis of dementia that is possibly linked to his drug taking.’
Kenton, who had 39 convictions for 92 offences, pleaded guilty to supplying a class A drug, with the offence taking place on November 16, 2024. Most of his previous convictions were for theft, and he had none that were relevant to this case.
Judge Carl Harrison told Kenton that smuggling drugs into prison causes havoc. The offence was serious, he added, that only an immediate custodial sentence could be justified.
Kenton was jailed for two years and told he would serve half of that term before being released on licence.
At Cardiff Magistrates’ Court last month, Dyke, 29, of Caerphilly, was ordered to pay £205 in a fine and costs after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine.