Sheffield pair sentenced for bid to smuggle contraband into prison
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Tye Roberts told prison officers he was meeting a friend to go fishing when he was stopped outside the prison wall, after crossing a bridge which had been closed off by Doncaster Council, at 10.45pm on August 1 last year.
When he was searched nothing was found and the officers let him go, but they later came across five tape-wrapped packages containing 20 grams of cannabis, a lock-knife, nine mobile phones and cigarette papers, worth as much as £8,000 in prison, nearby.
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Hide AdA bag of oranges, which are used as target practice when articles are thrown over prison walls, was also discovered.
Jennifer Pinder was driving the Vauxhall Astra that Roberts was travelling with when police pulled it over on Cleveland Street, Doncaster, shortly afterwards.
Silver duct tape in the car matched the wrapped packages and a box at Pinder's home matched one of the phones. Letters that linked her to a serving inmate were also found and it was revealed Roberts had been released from the prison a week earlier.
Prosecutor Brian Outhwaite said illegal items cause unrest in prison, and lead to ‘taxing, bullying and violence’.
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Hide AdRobert Sandford, for Pinder, said she had no previous convictions and was put under pressure by her ex-partner to give Roberts a lift.
"While she didn't know what was in the packages, she suspected there were drugs," the court heard.
Ian West said Roberts was described as a ‘model prisoner’ who had been on remand for eight months.
He said Roberts and his family were threatened and he was put under pressure to deliver the contraband.
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Hide AdThe court heard he had 29 previous convictions, including drug possession, violence and dishonesty.
Pinder, aged 40, of Edenthorpe Grove, Owlthorpe, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a conspiracy to convey articles into prison, after initially denying it.
Roberts, 29, whose address was given as Norfolk Heritage Park, Guildford Avenue, pleaded guilty to conspiring to convey articles into prison.
Recorder David Gordon sentenced Roberts to 21 months and Pinder to 15 months, suspended for two years, with 15 rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work.