Man who ran drug empire from his jail cell sent to Strangeways

A DRUG dealer who ran his illegal empire from behind bars is now in a Category A prison to stop him reoffending.

When Paul David Williams was convicted of conspiracy to supply both Class A and B drugs, Judge Niclas Parry branded it a “scandal” that he was able to run the elaborate network from his cell at HMP Dovegate.

Our sister paper The Daily Post revealed Williams, of Belmont Street, Bangor, is now at HMP Manchester as a Category A prisoner – reserved for criminals who are the highest risk to the general public.

Williams, 41, was moved into the prison, formerly known as HMP Strangeways, ahead of the Operation Measure trial earlier this year.

Now sentenced to an additional 19 years, he will be kept as a Category A prisoner for the foreseeable future.

Last week Hywel Williams MP said he would write to the Home Secretary to find out how Williams was able to run his empire behind bars for the second time – he was convicted of the same offence in 2011.

Mr Williams MP said: “Surely somebody should have noticed, especially given this man has a history of running his drugs operations from prison.

“There are serious questions to be answered. We need to know security in these prisons is foolproof.”

Williams was able to continue offending while serving time at the Staffordshire jail, which is privately run by security company Serco.