HMP Hindley worker smuggled drugs and had sex with inmate

Annette Causey smuggled drugs and mobile phones into a prison

A prison kitchen supervisor has been jailed for smuggling cannabis and mobile phones into a jail and having a sexual relationship with an inmate.

Annette Causey, 35, told detectives she brought drugs into HMP Hindley, near Wigan, in exchange for cash.

She admitted misconduct in a public office and supplying Class B drugs and was jailed at Bolton Crown Court for two and a half years.

Two inmates Mark Berry, 33, and Jamie Ellis, 31, were also sentenced.

Berry, who was jailed for 21 months, and Ellis, who was jailed for 16 months, pleaded guilty to supplying Class B drugs and possessing a prohibited item - a mobile phone - in prison.

The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) investigated reports of corruption after receiving intelligence Causey was involved in inappropriate relationships with prisoners and smuggling contraband into HMP Hindley.

Searches by prison staff recovered two mobile phones which revealed Ellis and Causey had been in a relationship and also showed Causey supplied cannabis and tobacco for Ellis and his cellmate Berry.

Jamie Ellis and Mark Berry were jailed for supplying cannabis

On her arrest Causey, of Warrington Road in Abram, Wigan, admitted she was involved in a sexual relationship with Ellis and also told detectives she brought drugs into the prison.

Detectives found more cash, love letters to Ellis and cannabis when they searched her house.

Berry, of Old Bridge Road in Speke, Liverpool, had previously been released from custody in December 2018 while Ellis, of Lakenheath Road in Knowsley, Merseyside, was freed from jail in April 2019.

Det Supt Karen Jaundrill said the "overwhelming majority of prison officers and staff do a fantastic job but occasionally they are let down by a corrupt colleague whose, actions allow prisoners to continue their criminal activity inside prison".

A spokesman from HMP Hindley said there was no place for corruption at the jail, adding it can "fuel violence, debt and the illicit economy".