Prison pair jailed over £100k scam
A FORMER Forest Bank anti-corruption boss and a junior colleague have both been jailed for a £100,000 scheme to steal and re-sell electronic goods passing through the prison.
Carl Byron, 36, abused the ‘utmost trust’ placed in him within the prison service, allowing him to intercept items brought into the Salford jail as part of a re-packaging service, a court heard.
The father-of-three used his senior position to steal items such as games consoles and DVDs over six years.
He later recruited co-defendant Anthony Bradbury, 31, who worked as a security analyst within the prison and together the pair would steal and then re-sell high value items on eBay.
At Manchester Crown Court, the pair were jailed after previously admitting offences of theft and money laundering which saw them pocket a total of £100,000 between them.
The court previously heard Byron had been employed by Forest Bank since 2008 and had access to the keys and all areas of the prison. His role as deputy corruption manager allowed him to handle sensitive information relating to staff and prisoners.
Prosecutor Mark Rind said ‘utmost’ trust was placed in him.
Bradbury had worked under Byron since 2014 in his security operations team role and was viewed as a wellrespected and hard worker, it was said.
But an investigation into the pair, in 2017, revealed a series of messages between Byron and Bradbury.
The court heard about chummy and sometimes affectionate texts often signed off with kisses to one another.
In one, Bradbury said to Byron: “We are the best team in jail and you made me from a boy to a man. The best thief in jail.” They would describe ‘good grafts’ when they had stolen particularly valuable items and repeatedly quote the the phrase ‘man cannot live by bread alone.’
Byron once wrote to Bradbury: “You have more deliveries than HMV here.”
The court was told Forest Bank had an ‘Industrial Work Section’ where prisoners could work for modest sums of money as part of rehabilitation. A company called Long Time Ventures worked with the prison since 2010, re-packaging items which had been returned to stores like DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
Byron and Bradbury were involved in searching bags of the items coming into prison in what was branded by the prosecution as a ‘lax agreement.’
“Nobody expected the people working in the prison to steal things,” Mr Rind added.
The scam was operated between 2011 and 2017 by Byron, who would remove the most popular items and take them to boxes in the staff car park.
It began with low-value goods such as books, but after Bradbury became involved in 2015 the pair began intercepting higher valued items.
Judge Suzanne Goddard QC branded the scheme as the ‘ultimate betrayal’ which has left the reputation of prison management under a ‘cloud of suspicion.’ Sentencing the pair, she said: “The utmost trust was placed in you Byron and Bradbury, you were regarded as a hard working, respected and highly trusted member of the team.
Counsel acting on behalf of both defendants spoke of the ‘devastating’ effect their offending has had upon their families. Bradbury’s defence barrister Keith Harrison told the court his client’s motivation was borne out of ‘financial hardship’ and not the desire to lead a lavish lifestyle.
Byron, of Manchester Road in Over Hulton, Bolton, was sentenced to two years and ten months after pleading guilty to one count of theft and two counts of converting criminal property.
Bradbury, of Haslam Street Bury, was jailed for two years and two months after pleading guilty to identical charges.