Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Drugs rap Maghaberry officer ‘key player in organised crime gang’
Court told warder hid stash in boots
A WARDER charged with dealing drugs inside Maghaberry Prison is a “key player” in an organised crime gang, a court heard yesterday.
Stephen Brian Martin, 23, was held at the jail on Friday after arriving for work with packets of suspected cocaine, cannabis and diazepam tablets stashed in his boots.
A detective constable told a judge the accused played a central role in a drug trafficking racket both within the prison and outside in the wider community.
He added: “He is a key player in an organised crime gang.
“Without him this activity couldn’t happen within the prison.”
Applying for bail at Lisburn Magistrates’ Court, Martin’s lawyer claimed he had been forced into bringing the items into the prison by an inmate who had been threatening him that he knew where he and his girlfriend lived.
The solicitor said: “He was in over his head and put under pressure by a prisoner to bring these items in and foolishly he succumbed.”
District Judge Rosemary Watters rejected the bail bid and remanded Martin into custody. She agreed with the police objections that the accused posed a risk of offending if bailed and could potentially interfere with the ongoing investigation.
The accused spoke only twice to confirm his name and that he understood the charges.
The officer faces a total of 16 charges including possession with intent to supply class A, B and C drugs, misconduct in a public office and conveying prohibited items into a prison.
He is due to appear before the same court, via video-link, on September 18.
The court heard Martin’s father is also a prison officer and his mother formerly worked for the service.
The accused has only been employed as a prison officer since January, having previously worked for a pharmaceutical firm for six
years. The court was told when Martin arrived for work on Friday he was asked to undergo a search.
He refused and subsequently admitted he had two bags of drugs concealed in his boots, claiming he was “under duress” to take them into the prison. He was then arrested by police.
The court heard CCTV evidence from inside the Co Antrim jail showed Martin “acting suspiciously” with prisoners.
The detective alleged the accused handed over drugs to inmates in a storeroom away from the cameras.
He said evidence also included a recorded telephone conversation involving a prisoner and his mother which, though coded, appeared to reference the transportation of drugs into Maghaberry.
Police believe Martin was the man who was to take the substances inside.
The officer said the prisoner’s mother’s phone number was found in
LISBURN COURT YESTERDAY
Martin’s car. He added a search of his house recovered suspected cannabis, cocaine, anabolic steroids and needles along with paraphernalia.
A mobile was also recovered from the property, which the officer claimed contained “insurmountable” evidence of Martin’s involvement in drugs.
The detective said there was also evidence social media postings that indicated his involvement in dealing had been deleted since his arrest.
Martin’s solicitor told the court the anabolic steroids found in his client’s house were used by him for weightlifting and claimed the needles were “tanning” injections he was using before a planned holiday yesterday.
The solicitor said the accused’s girlfriend was standing by him, adding: “His father is devastated by this but he is supporting his son.”
Judge Watters said Martin should have known to alert prison authorities if he was subject to any threats from prisoners.
Two women, aged 26 and 55, were arrested on Friday in connection with the investigation.
Drugs were also recovered during searches in Lisburn and Dungannon.
The women were released on bail pending further inquiries.