Prison guard planned smuggling
A prison guard who planned to sneak tobacco and cellphones to jailed drug dealers in exchange for deposits to her TAB and bank accounts has avoided conviction.
Feilding woman Amanda Beverly Lorianne Hamilton, 44, was granted diversion on two charges of conspiring to take contraband into the jail earlier in the year.
She is the second Manawatu¯ Prison worker to avoid conviction for attempted smuggling in recent months.
While Hamilton’s court matters wrapped up in June, Manawatu¯ Standard was recently granted access to view parts of her file, which contained details about the 44-year-old’s offending and fight to keep her name secret.
Police started suspecting her of taking contraband to inmates in September last year,
She had multiple conversations with an inmate, Mickal James Hammond, about getting items into the prison.
Hammond has an extensive history of drug dealing, with convictions going back to 2003. He is serving a four-year nine-month term for possessing of GBL and ecstasy for supply.
Hamilton gave him her TAB account details, which Hammond had $2000 deposited into. He also had $1000 deposited into Hamilton’s bank account.
Police intercepted calls from Hammond to someone outside prison, who confirmed the payments had been made. They also discussed getting Hamilton tobacco and cellphones.
Hamilton also had discussions with an associate of another inmate, Adam Wallace, about smuggling tobacco and phones into Manawatu¯ Prison.
Wallace is also a drug dealer, jailed as part of Operation Snowman – an investigation into methamphetamine dealing in Horowhenua. He also had money put into Hamilton’s TAB account.
Police found tobacco, cellphones and patches when they searched Hamilton’s home in December last year, as well as a hand-written note detailing ways to get contraband into prison.
She told police she took the money and items, but never intended to take them into the jail.
According to a name suppression judgment from Judge Lance Rowe, Hamilton completed diversion on the charges.
Hamilton tried to get her name suppressed permanently, as it was argued being named would cause extreme hardship to her mother, who was also a prison guard.
There had been remarks by other prison officers and inmates, as the offending cast suspicion on her, the judge said.
Assistant prison director Ron Whelan filed an affirmation, outlining what he said were risks to Hamilton’s mother’s health due to possible stress. But the judge said the stress was because people did not know the true story – something which would not change on suppression.
Chief custodial officer Neil Beales, in a statement, said Corrections did not know about the material Whelan filed. Any input by Corrections into name suppression would have been about the safety and security of staff, he said.
Hamilton’s diversion comes after Darren Earl Reid, a tutor who worked at Manawatu¯ Prison, was also granted diversion for a failed smuggling attempt.