‘I paid £20k to stop lags killing my jailed lover’
INMATES TARGET RELATIVES OVER DRUG DEBT
THE family of a man who ran up drug debts in jail say they had to pay £20,000 to stop dealers killing him.
Inmates targeted relatives after the prisoner got hooked on zombie drug Spice and could not pay what he owed.
Now his mum and ex-girlfriend have told how they were ordered to pay money into anonymous bank accounts or the man would be stabbed to death.
Sources say growing numbers of inmates’ families are falling victim to extortion rackets by prison drug pushers.
In a menacing letter to the lag’s mother, who we are not naming to protect the family from reprisals, an inmate in HM Prison Swaleside in Kent, wrote: “I’ve tried to be good to him, treated him well but now my patience is at an end.
“He owes me £275 and he owes my pal £50.
“This is his last chance. If my £275 and my pal’s £50 ain’t put in the correct accounts by next Friday your fella is going to get served up.
“Honestly I’m not joking with you, if that money’s not in he will be getting cut to pieces.
“So I suppose it’s up to you now. If you care for him then you need to help him because I promise you that if my money is not done by next Friday then you will not recognise the mess I make out of your man. Only you can save this from happening now.”
The con is still in jail nine years after being given an indeterminate sentence for public protection at the Old Bailey in December 2007. He stabbed a gang rival in south London.
While inside he has been stabbed, sexually assaulted, had his teeth knocked out and his jaw dislocated in beatings and suffered a slipped disc in his back from a kicking.
His now ex-girlfriend, 36, who we are not naming, said her life is in tatters after she racked up huge debts bailing him out.
She regularly paid between £20 and £1,000 into various accounts over six years after the terrified lag started to ask for cash to settle drug debts.
Inmates he owed money to began texting her to demand cash and added interest when payments were missed.
She said: “In six years, I paid out around £20,000 for debts.
“I took out high-interest loans. I still owe between £6,000 and £8,000 and at times haven’t even been able to afford a phone for myself.
“I lost my job as a carer at an old people’s home after the stress of bailing him out mounted and I’m now on the dole.
“I suffered bullying and harassment by inmate dealers. I had texts threatening me and my family. It was terrifying.”
She wrote to Swaleside’s governor in 2015 to voice concerns over her ex’s safety.
She said: “A month later my ex was slashed across the face and I had to pay out because I thought next time he would be killed.”
The woman added: “We split up because it was too much and I was being taken advantage of.
“But I kept paying because I just couldn’t bear to see him get seriously injured or killed. He’d already been stabbed once. It was a horrific situation to be in and it ruined my life.
“We’ve tried to get him off Spice. It is an evil drug. He’s clean now but I don’t know for how long.
“I have no kids and I don’t want to bring any into this world as I can’t provide for them.
“I know I’ll be seen as a doormat but I can’t stand by and let him suffer. Despite everything, I still love him.”
The prisoner is now at another jail after being moved for his own safety.
His mum added: “The text messages and threats have stopped now and he’s off drugs and doing well, but we have been through hell.”