Prisoners' 'audacious' plan to smuggle in banned items into jail using drone
A cunning and "audacious" plan to smuggle football-sized parcels of banned items into prison via a drone, has seen the 'masterminds' given another jail term.
Prisoners at HMP Humber were on a secret mission which involved retrieving the dropped parcel, quickly hiding the sneakily-delivered items inside a cell and deliberately setting off the fire alarms as a crafty ploy to mask the telltale noise of the drone, Hull Crown Court heard. One of the inmates recruited for the task, Marc Davies, 33, has now admitted possessing, while inside prison, banned items, including a smartphone, two micro-sized phones, SIM cards and two charging cables, on January 5.
Nick Peacock, prosecuting, said that prison officers heard a drone in the area above HMP Humber, near Everthorpe and North Cave, and checks were made. A large football-sized parcel had been delivered to a cell containing two inmates, who had left their cell and moved on to a wing of the prison. They were met by another prisoner and the container seemed to have been split.
Davies was found with a smartphone, two micro-sized phones, SIM cards and two charging cables in his cell. He later said during interview that he had "just gone along with things" and that his role was to activate the fire alarms in the hope that it would hide the sound of the drone from prison staff.
The man from Scunthorpe had convictions for 93 previous offences, including for assault causing actual bodily harm, affray, burglary, possessing a knife, drugs, theft and public order matters. He was currently serving an eight-year sentence for causing grievous bodily harm with intent that had been imposed at Grimsby Crown Court in February 2020.
In that offence, Davies and his accomplice, John Wass, brutally beat up a defenceless man in a horrendous attack after bursting into his Scunthorpe home. They wrongly suspected him of stealing and left him unconscious in a pool of blood. The savage attack even continued after the victim fled in terror to the nearby home of a vulnerable elderly man. Davies hit the man on the head with a steel wheel brace. The victim curled up in a ball but Davies and Wass, who was also jailed for eight years, kicked and punched him as well as hitting him with the wheel brace, Hull Live reports.
Richard Butters, defending, said that Davies had been prosecuted for the drone offence, instead of the matter being dealt with internally through disciplinary action, because "the prison wanted to make a point that this is completely unacceptable". "He was told to set off the fire alarms to cover up the noise of the drone so that the prison officers didn't hear it," said Mr Butters. "He was told to put all the items from the drone into his cell to hide them."
Mr Butters continued: "There has been absolutely no benefit to this defendant. He was entirely used by other people, who had arranged this offence and, as is the norm, the people at the top end of the chain have got away scot-free. He did not arrange the offence. He hasn't benefitted. He has already been punished to a significant degree by the prison authorities."
Davies had been locked up in his cell for 23 hours a day, with only half an hour to shower and wash and the other half an hour for exercise, the court was told. "Other than that, eating and such like was all done within the cell," said Mr Butters. "He knows that he has been extremely foolish." The court heard he is now "highly regarded" by the prison staff. "There have been no black marks against his name," said Mr Butters. "He has been the most remarkable prisoner and he has kept his head down."
Recorder Abdul Iqbal KC said that the use of the aerial drone "circling" near the prison "by prior arrangement" as part of a plan to deliver a parcel was "audacious". Davies was jailed for six months, to run consecutively to the eight-year prison sentence that he is already serving.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
