Man jailed over Lincoln Prison drug bid to pay loan shark

Charles Smith claimed the people he owed money to had visited the houses of his mother and his children chasing the debts

A man caught throwing packages of drugs over the wall into Lincoln Prison in a bid to clear his debts has been jailed for two years.

Charles Smith was caught throwing packages containing cocaine, ecstasy and synthetic cannabis.

Lincoln Crown Court heard he had debts of £10,000 and was told he could reduce the amount he owed if he agreed to get the drugs into the prison.

He admitted two charges of conveying a banned article into prison.

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The court heard Smith, 32, of Earlesfield Lane, Grantham, threw the packages over the wall from an access road at the side of the prison.

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said one of the packages was found by a member of staff, and the other was handed in by a prisoner.

'Videoed his children'

Smith's fingerprints were found on the packages and he was identified from CCTV footage from 17 December 2016.

In mitigation, Alasdair Campbell, said Smith had got himself into debt with a loan shark and it was suggested to him he could reduce the amount he owed if he agreed to get the drugs into the prison.

"He had a £10,000 gambling debt from betting on horses. He repaid that by borrowing the money from people and those were the people he owed," he said.

Mr Campbell added: "The people he owed money to had visited the houses of his mother and his children chasing the debts. He received a call from somebody who had videoed his children and his ex-partner outside their property."

The court was told cocaine and ecstasy had a value inside prison of ten times what they were worth outside.