Prison officer smuggled drugs in juice cartons

Jodie Beer was sentenced to six years in prison after admitting to trying to take drugs into Parc prison

A prison officer who attempted to smuggle class A drugs hidden in orange juice cartons to an inmate has been jailed for six years.

Jodie Beer admitted to possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, possession with intent to supply and misconduct as a public officer and was arrested in Parc prison car park in February 2022.

The 30-year-old from Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf, had been paid about £5,000 to take cocaine, cannabis and prescription tablets into the prison.

At Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday, she was sentenced to concurrent sentences on each count, totalling six years in prison.

Beer began working at Parc prison in January 2019 as a prison officer.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, told the court that, in December 2021, she was approached by a prisoner who asked her if she wanted to make some money by "bringing something" into the prison.

"She had previously told him she wasn't going out because she was skint," he said.

"At first she said no, but a week or so later she said 'go on then'."

The prisoner told her to buy burner phones, which she did on the internet.

She received a call from a withheld number, which told her to meet somebody at a layby near Sainsbury's supermarket in Bridgend.

She did not look up to see who met her, but a bag containing three small bags of cocaine was placed on her passenger seat.

Mr Cobbe said she did not take those drugs into prison, but instead used them herself over the course of about a week, and told the inmate she had lost them.

"She resolved never to do that again and did not receive any money for that," he said.

But, when she was approached again, she "had no money and understood there would be two or three thousand pounds in it for her".

Up to £62,600 worth of drugs

This drop-off, on 1 February 2022, happened in the same way, but this time the items were placed in a Tesco bag and included two orange juice cartons, a bag of what she then believed to be the drug MDMA, and a £5,000 cash payment.

Mr Cobbe said it was "obvious to anyone who picked them up" that the orange juice cartons also contained items.

The following day, she went out in Swansea with her girlfriend, dining at a steakhouse and spending about £300 at Tommy Hilfiger shop.

During her shift on 3 February 2022, her manager asked her to move her car, and it was at this point that she was arrested and the Tesco bag and items seized.

In total, it contained 21.86g of cocaine - of which 18.6g was high purity - as well as 628g of cannabis, 156g tabs of prescription painkiller buprenorphine, 10 mobile phones, six mobile phone keys, 10 USB cables and nine sim cards.

The drugs alone were valued at between £22,000 and £62,600.

Police also seized £3,935 of cash from a wardrobe in her girlfriend's house later that day.

Mr Cobbe told the court Beer had received extensive training from her employers, including being told that prisoners could attempt to manipulate staff, and was "given guidance on how to ensure professional boundaries".

He said Beer "must have understood that it was her duty to report" this type of approach, adding she had made no such report but "understood how the system worked" because she had reported other types of prisoner misbehaviour.

Jodie Beer had been a prison officer at HMP Parc for more than two years when she was arrested

In her police interview, Beer said she had previously had a cocaine addiction, but had been "taking it irregularly" since starting her job at the prison.

She added her "mental health had deteriorated" after four family members died close together.

"She confirmed the offending was not a result of threatening behaviour... but she was instead doing it for the money," said Mr Cobbe.

Owen Williams, defending, said Beer was "somebody who was approached and corrupted by a prisoner, rather than somebody who of her own volition decided to embark on a criminal enterprise in the prison setting".

Mr Williams said his client had been "in the grip of an addiction to Class A drugs" and had shown "remorse and regret".

Beer was sobbing in the dock as Mr Williams told the court she had a "significant relationship" and a newborn baby, adding she was "a good person who has made a series of terrible mistakes".

Sentencing Beer, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said she was "well aware" that her actions were "inappropriate and illegal".

"You abused your position as a prison officer," she added.

As well as the prison sentence, Judge Lloyd-Clarke ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the items seized and said South Wales Police could put the money "towards projects that deal with the prevention and apprehension of those involved in the supply of controlled drugs".

Sarah Ingram, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Beer's crimes were a "breach of trust", adding: "As a prison officer she was in a position of responsibility and her behaviour fell far below the standards that are expected."