Pair jailed for plot to smuggle drugs into prison

Ricky Smith and Jade Brannan were jailed for plotting to smuggle drugs into a prison using a drone

Two people have been jailed for plotting to smuggle drugs and phones into a prison using drones.

Ricky Smith, 39, and Jade Brannan, 35, both pleaded guilty to conspiring to bring contraband into HMP Lindholme, near Doncaster, and were sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on 30 October.

Smith, of Ash Close in Leeds, also pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying Class C drugs and three counts of throwing an article into a prison, twice at HMP Ranby, near Retford, and once at HMP Lindholme. He was jailed for three years.

Brannan, of Heath Rise in Leeds, also pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying Class C drugs and was jailed for two years and three months.

South Yorkshire Police said a prison officer on patrol had located a drone dropping a package in the shape of a juice carton into the grounds of HMP Lindholme, Doncaster, in June 2022.

The package was found to contain drugs, SIM cards, charging cables, and mobile phones.

Flight data from the drone led officers to Smith's address, with forensic analysis leading to a match for both Smith and Brannan.

Brannan was then arrested at her home address, with a search of her property leading to a number of suspected drugs being seized along with empty boxes of diazepam, pregabalin, and a quantity of USB sticks.

Smith was also arrested, with a search of his address leading to the recovery of a drone controller and blades.

Analysis of his mobile phone revealed various chats in which Smith offered the sale of drugs and had images of juice cartons similar to what was recovered from the drone at Lindholme, as well as video footage of a previous drop.

Det Con Jonathan White, of the North East Regional Prison Intelligence Unit, said: "Nationally, we have started to see a dramatic increase of drones incursions into our prison estates, and it has become a more frequently used way to get illicit contraband items into prisons.

"These activities fuel crime within prisons and threaten to derail the rehabilitation of offenders and their eventual reintegration back into society."

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