Man jailed over HMP Swaleside drone deliveries

The drone was covered in black tape "to avoid detection" Kent Police said

A man has been jailed for using a drone to send banned items into a prison.

Daniel Lee Kelly, 37, from Grove Park, south London, admitted using the drone to send a psychoactive substance and tobacco into HMP Swaleside.

At Maidstone Crown Court he was sentenced to 14 months for two counts of sending prohibited items into the Eastchurch prison.

It is thought to be the first UK conviction of its type, according to Kent Police.

Daniel Kelly was jailed for 14 months

Kelly was arrested on 25 April after a vehicle was spotted by police in Leysdown with the lights on. A person then ran to the car and it sped off, police said.

A drone, which had been sprayed black and had black tape placed over its lights, was found in the boot.

Det Con Mark Silk, said: "Kelly's offending was serious. Psychoactive substances and tobacco have an inflated value in prison and this can lead to offences being committed within. This places both inmates and prison staff at risk."

Recent research by the Press Association found smuggling involving drones had risen from no incidents in 2013 to 33 in 2015.

Ingrid Edwards, 25, from Charlton, was cleared of the same charges.