BEHIND BARS

A TEENAGER CHANGED

HIS MIND AS HE TRIED TO SMUGGLE CANNABIS INTO PRISON

HM Parc Prison.

Darnell Graham, 19, from Sussex Place in Bristol, admitted two counts of taking prohibited items into prison.

Graham changed his mind as he tried to smuggle cannabis and tobacco into HM Parc Prison but was caught after he was strip searched. He tried to avoid prison officers and back out of the visitor search area while sneaking the banned items to a friend who was serving a sentence for robbery.

Alec Small, defending, told the court his client was from a particularly disadvantaged background and was at the prison to visit a friend who was an inmate. He added: “It may have started as bravado, but when he passed the door, he realised at that moment what he had done was a mistake.”

Judge Nicola Jones imposed a six-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work, plus 15 days of a rehabilitation activity. He was ordered to pay £340 costs. She said: “In my view, more harm than good would be served by imposing an immediate custodial sentence.”

A PRISONER LIT A FIRE IN HIS CELL BECAUSE HE WASN’T ALLOWED TO WATCH TV

HM Swansea Prison.

Michael Evans, 24, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to arson.

Evans set fire to his trainers because he was upset prison authorities would not return his confiscated TV set. He used a vaping pen to ignite his prison-issue shoes in his cell. It was the second time Evans had set a fire in his cell. The cost of extinguishing the fire and repairs was put at £540.

He told officers he started the fire as a “protest”. Kate Williams, for Evans, said he had accepted “he [was] going to be in prison for a long time”.

He was serving a 105-month sentence at the time. Judge Keith Thomas sentenced him to 12 months for the offence in prison to be served concurrently.

AN INMATE MADE A WEAPON USING A SCREW AND A PIECE OF PLASTIC

HM Swansea Prison.

Jason King, 29, from The Strand in Swansea, admitted possession of a bladed or pointed article in a prison.

Inmate King dropped his homemade weapon down the cell toilet when officers entered to conduct a search. He had fashioned the implement from a large screw taped to a plastic handle.

James Hartson, for King, said the discovery of the weapon would have come as “no surprise” to the officers as the search followed admissions made by the defendant to the prison nurse. He said his client had been on remand in HMP Swansea at the time and had become “paranoid about his safety”.

He was given a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. Judge Keith Thomas said the weapon found by officers would have been capable of causing serious injury had it been used and he said the undermining of prison discipline by the possession of such an item was a serious matter.

A DAD TRIED TO SNEAK DRUGS INTO PRISON TO HELP HIS SON

HM Cardiff Prison.

John Morgan, 61, from Hollycroft Close in Cardiff, admitted taking a prohibited item into prison.

Morgan tried to sneak drugs into prison in a bid to help out his son who was “having a hard time”. He attempted to get the Subutex – a heroin substitute – past prison guards, but he was spotted on security cameras taking the hidden package out of his mouth.

Rosamund Rutter, defending, said: “It was a misguided attempt to assist his son, who was struggling in the custodial setting at the time.”

Judge David Wynn Morgan jailed him for four months.

A PRISONER ON THE FINAL

DAY OF HIS SENTENCE ATTACKED THREE GUARDS

HM Parc Prison.

Sean Kells, 33, from Aeron Close in Barry, admitted three counts of assaulting emergency workers.

Kells, who was locked up for burglary, bit a prison officer and kicked two others the day before he was due to be released. He pushed one officer up against a cell wall before biting her thigh, then kicked a second officer to her jaw and a third to her head. Another inmate shouted at him: “Kells, it’s a woman.”

One of the victims said she suspected the defendant had been on “hooch” – alcohol brewed in prison. David Leathley, defending, said he was not under the influence of alcohol, but was angry because he had been assaulted. He added: “He had been the victim of quite a horrendous assault by other inmates. He was jumped upon in his own cell and badly beaten.”

He was jailed for 14 months. Judge Richard Williams said: “Any inmate who lays a hand on a prison officer can expect to be dealt with severely.”

A NURSING ASSISTANT WITH DRUGS HIDDEN IN HER BRA WAS CAUGHT BY SNIFFER DOGS

HM Parc Prison.

Somaya Jama, 31, from Lavender Grove in Cardiff, admitted taking a banned item into prison and possessing amphetamine.

Jama, who went to visit her partner in prison with their five-yearold child, tried to smuggle drugs to him hidden in her bra. She attempted to sneak £200 worth of buprenorphine past security, but was searched after attracting the attention of sniffer dogs.

She said she felt pressured to do it because her boyfriend was a drug user and told her he was not getting the support he needed from prison staff. The defendant stated she knew what she was doing was illegal but did not realise the punishment could be so serious.

Jama was given a six-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work plus six days of a rehabilitation activity. She had to comply with a three-month curfew and an order was made for the drugs to be destroyed.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said the defendant’s behaviour was “extremely foolish”.

A PRISONER WAS CAUGHT USING A MOBILE PHONE TO RING HIS GIRLFRIEND

HM Parc Prison.

Dale Bird, 29, admitted possessing a prohibited article in prison.

Bird, who was locked up in 2018 for growing and selling cannabis, was caught with a mobile phone in his cell contacting his girlfriend. Bethan Evans, prosecuting, said the defendant seemed “startled” when officers arrived to search his cell.

Sara Palmer, defending, said he missed the Friday afternoon deadline to upload credit to the prison phone and would not have been able to contact his partner over the weekend. Ms Palmer said the phone did not belong to him, he borrowed it from another prisoner, and did not use it to commit further crimes. She added: “He simply wished to contact his girlfriend.”

He was 10 months into his sixand-a-half-year sentence when he was caught. Judge Michael Fitton QC jailed him for 12 months on top of his current sentence.

A MUM WAS CAUGHT TRYING TO SMUGGLE HEROIN INTO PRISON IN HER BRA

HM Parc Prison.

Beverley McLaughlan, 57, of Banwell Close in Morriston, Swansea, pleaded guilty to conveying a specified substance into a prison.

McLaughlan was caught trying to smuggle heroin to her inmate son after prison officers listened in to a phone call between the pair. Prosecutors said there was no direct reference to drugs during the conversation but he made repeated requests to his mother to “sort it out for me”. She was found with 1g of the drug hidden inside her bra when she arrived to visit.

When police later searched her home they found a note – unsigned but addressed to “mam” – saying “just get as much as possible” and “I wants gear”. Dan Griffiths, defending, said following “emotional pressure” from her son the defendant had decided to try to get the Class A drugs into prison “out of a sense of misguided loyalty”.

McLaughlan was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course. She was ordered to pay a court surcharge of £140.

Judge Keith Thomas said the guidelines were clear that people who try to smuggle drugs into prison should go to jail but he was prepared to take the “wholly exceptional” step of imposing a suspended sentence to allow the defendant to get the help and support she needed.