Caught ready brek handed! Prison officer, 34, at the centre of a smuggling ring supplying inmates with drugs and mobile phones in cereal boxes is jailed
A prison officer who was the ringleader of a smuggling gang supply inmates with with drugs, weapons and mobile phones stashed in cereal boxes has been jailed.
Martin Mills, 34, was caught red-handed trying to smuggle prohibited items into HMP Hewell that were hidden in packs of Weetabix and Ready Brek.
A court heard he was stopped as he arrived for work at the category B jail near Redditch, Worcestershire, after prison bosses became suspicious in April 2018.
Detectives were able to link several other people to the smuggling ring, including prisoners housed on the block Mills worked on.
Family members of the lags would pay money into Mills’ bank account and he would then take the contraband to work for the prisoners to sell on inside.
Martin Mills, 34, was caught red-handed trying to smuggle prohibited items into HMP Hewell
The items included drugs and mobile phones. They were smuggled into the jail in cereal boxes
Mills was an officer at HMP Hewell (pictured), a category B jail near Redditch, Worcestershire
Photos show how drugs, phones, SIM cards, tobacco, Rizlas, wads of cash and even a knife were recovered as part of the operation.
Mills, of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to smuggling drugs and “list B” items (mobile phones and associated equipment).
Mills was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court alongside eight other people for conspiracy to bring, throw and convey prohibited items in to the prison.
Iain Maclachlan-Sim, 34, of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and Hamza Mohumed, 32, of Coventry, were both jailed for four years.
Tony Graham Barrett, 28, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was caged for three years and two months while David Ward, 53, of Coventry, was sentenced to 21 months.
Jy Kennedy, 30, of Leamington Spa, received a seven month suspended sentence and given a £250 fine..
Isiah Gill, 34, of Birmingham, was sentenced to 10 months, suspended for 12 months and ordered to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work.
Among the other items smuggled into prison include a knife, wads of cash and phones
David Ward (left), 53 and from Coventry, was sentenced to one year and nine months. Tony Barrett (right), 28 and from Nuneaton was jailed for three years and two months
Hamza Mohumed, 32, from Coventry was jailed for four years for the smuggling operation
Alongside Mills, a further eight other people were sentenced for their roles in running the smuggling ring at HMP Hewell (pictured
Leanne Miles, 32, of Coventry, was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for a year.
Ann Marie Sim, 52, of Leamington Spa, received a six month sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Detective Constable Claire Masters, of West Mercia Police, said: ‘This has been a complicated and long-running investigation and I’m pleased that all those involved have now been brought to justice.
‘Prisons should be a place of safety and the actions of Mills and his accomplices threatened that.
‘Drugs have no place in prison and hinder the rehabilitation of those who are there, often when they are at their most vulnerable.
‘I hope these sentences show that we take all reports of crime seriously, regardless of who commits them and where they took place.’
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