Couple jailed for smuggling drugs into prison

Mark Staniland and Natalie Quinn were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court

A serving prisoner "orchestrated" the supply of drugs into prison with the help of his partner on the outside, police say.

Mark Staniland was serving an indeterminate sentence at HMP Nottingham when he supplied controlled drugs with the help of his partner Natalie Quinn.

Nottinghamshire Police said Quinn used one of her bank accounts to receive money from family members of different inmates at the prison at the same time as her partner, many of them being on the same wing as him.

The pair were jailed for drug offences at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday.

Police say the couple arranged for drugs to be sent into HMP Nottingham

Evidence from the couple's conversations in prison, messages on mobile phones and ANPR were used to identify five dates in 2021 when the couple had supplied synthetic cannabinoid - known as Spice - and cocaine to contacts in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Doncaster.

The force says it also suspects Quinn and Staniland were arranging for paper and envelopes soaked in Spice to be sent to him and his associates in prison.

Officers executed a warrant at Quinn's home in Merseyside and found Class A, B and C drugs, mixing agents, over £7,000 worth of cash hidden in a "book safe" and two high-value watches.

The court was told the total value of controlled substances and adulterants seized by officers during the investigation was between £127,000 and £194,000.

Officers found thousands of pounds hidden at Quinn's home

Investigations into Quinn's bank account found she received £1,585 from prisoners' families between August and October 2021 - money thought to be linked to the Spice paper police say the couple were sending into the prison.

The same bank account was also credited with over £20,000 around the same time period with no evidence of it being "legitimate income".

Staniland, 36, of HMP Garth, was sentenced to 12 years and nine months after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply Class A, B and C drugs - namely heroin cocaine, a synthetic cannabinoid and bromazolam.

Quinn, 42, of Cherry Road in Southport, was sentenced to six years in prison after admitting the same offences and possession with intent to supply Class B and C drugs.

Det Con Catherine Bolland, of the Regional Prisons Intelligence Unit, said: "Drugs have no place in prison and hinder the rehabilitation of those who are there, often when they are at their most vulnerable.

"These sentences send a clear message that those seeking to smuggle items into our prisons will be investigated and brought before the courts."