Drugs, money and affairs: corrupt prisoner workers who turned to crime

These prison workers found themselves in front of a judge after abusing their position at work for their own gain.

According to the Civil Service code, people who work in jails have a duty of "putting public service above personal interest. But these former prison workers decided to turn their backs on the law.

Some of those on the list below had illicit affairs with prisoners while they were behind bars, others smuggled drugs and other contraband into jails. One ex-prison officer used their ill-gotten gains for a hair transplant, breast surgery and a £10,000 wedding.

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The most recent case saw two care workers who had affairs with two convicted robbers. The women allegedly had the inmates initials tattooed on their bodies.

Take a look at the former prison officers who found themselves in the dock.

Adrienne Juniper and Amy Portwood

Adrienne Juniper and Amy Portwood brought contraband into HMP Risley in Warrington, where they were employed as carers, after becoming "infatuated" with convicted robbers Darren McAndrew and Philip Phythian. They also exchanged a string of "overtly sexual" texts and WhatsApp messages with their behind bars boyfriends, whose initials they allegedly had tattooed on their bodies.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Phythian had been serving a six-year sentence for robbery and possession of a bladed article in a public place at the category C site in late 2021, while McAndrew was subject to an extended 12-year sentence for robbery and aggravated vehicle taking. Portwood and Juniper meanwhile were "regular visitors" as care workers for contractor Care Plus.

The women were responsible for caring for a disabled prisoner called John Kelly but instead became involved in "romantic relationships" with the convicted robbers. The court heard on Thursday how the carers smuggled drugs and other contraband into the category C prison for their behind bars boyfriends.

Portwood's phone was shown to have exchanged 1,134 phone calls with Phythian over a period of a month, as well as 294 text messages. The two had also shared more than 1,000 WhatsApp messages between November 2021 and January 2022, including images which had subsequently been deleted from her device.

The court heard the messages were "overtly sexual in their content" while others referenced "tiny phones" and "sniff". Juniper and McAndrew meanwhile called one another 60 times and exchanged 1,598 texts, with some again being "sexual in nature". These included the inmate sending topless pictures of himself to the staff member.

When the two mums attended work on the morning of January 7, 2022, a drug detection dog was said to have "taken an interest" in Juniper and jumped up at her. However she "passed this off" by stating that she was wearing perfume and was allowed to continue onwards into the prison.

The 35-year-old and Portwood thereafter visited Kelly's cell, where Phythian and McAndrew "loitered in the vicinity" before speaking with the two employees. The women were seen on CCTV taking their patient to the shower in his wheelchair, which had an "out of place" blue bodywarmer on the back.

This garment was searched upon their return and contained five separate packages packed full of illicit goods. Their contents included a quantity of tobacco, a mobile phone, two USB sticks, cannabis resin worth up to £2,880 within the prison estate, herbal cannabis valued at as much as £1,850, £600 of cocaine, crack cocaine worth £200 and £240 of heroin.

A search of Juniper's home revealed £3,530 cash, as well as around £500 worth of Turkish lira. A further £348 was seized from a drawer in Portwood's bedroom.

McAndrew and Phythian, both of whom are of no fixed address but from Manchester, admitted conveying prohibited articles into a prison and possession of a prohibited item in a prison. Appearing via video link to HMP Forest Bank, they were each handed a further three years and nine months behind bars.

Portwood and Juniper pleaded guilty to conveying prohibited articles into a prison and possession of heroin, cocaine, cannabis, cannabis resin and steroids with intent to supply. The former nodded and became tearful as she was locked up for 22 months.

Juniper meanwhile received as 22-month imprisonment suspended for two years, plus 160 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days. She burst into tears as she was spared an immediate jail term.

Sarah Williams

Investigations into Sarah Williams, 38, of Kingsway, Widnes, started in early 2020 when Altcourse prison received information that she was involved in relationships with multiple prisoners. Cell searches were later carried out and mobile phones were recovered, which found Williams had been communicating with inmates.

The investigation was referred to the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit's anti-corruption department, who arrested Williams at her home on July 8, 2020 for misconduct in a public office. On Thursday, December 21, Williams was jailed for 18 months at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of Misconduct in Public Office, and one count of causing a computer to perform a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to data.

The court heard she had inappropriate relationships with three serving prisoners. Connor Crawford, who is currently serving a sentence for possessing firearms with intent to endanger life, pleaded guilty to possession of a mobile phone in prison and was jailed on June 8 at Liverpool Crown Court for an additional six months.

Megan Woodham

Megan Woodham used her job to conceal the shipments of drugs, which she then handed over to inmate Daniel Doran. She also used her home as the "safehouse" for a wider ring involved in the supply of millions of pounds of cocaine, members of which were handed lengthy spells behind bars at Liverpool Crown Court in January last year.

A trial previously heard that Doran - of Hall Lane in Kirkby - was a serving prisoner at HMP Risley in Warrington between December 2021 and February 2022, with Woodham having been employed as a health worker in the jail. David Watson, prosecuting, described how they - together with co-defendants Kelsey Higgins and John Butler - were "involved in the supply of a very large quantity of high purity cocaine".

Woodham, of Ormskirk Road in Pemberton, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine. She burst into tears after being jailed for six years then turned to members of her family in the public gallery and said: "I love you."

Peter Hughes

Peter Hughes smuggled drugs into a prison and spent his ill-gotten gains on a hair transplant, breast surgery and a £10,000 wedding.

Staff at HMP Liverpool noticed an increase in drugs inside the jail and carried out cell searches at one of the wings. It was then they uncovered numerous prohibited items, including mobile phones, SIM cards, spice drug, steroids and tobacco.

Following this, CCTV was checked and Peter Hughes, 32, of Linwood Road, Tranmere was seen entering HMP Liverpool carrying the bag prior to his shift starting in the early hours of April 25, 2020. He was seen entering a prisoner's cell and then leaving 20 seconds later with an empty bag.

Following the analysis of CCTV, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit launched an investigation into Hughes. This led to the 32-year-old being arrested at his home address on April 28, 2020.

During a search of his house, officers recovered a large number of steroids, needles, syringes, wipes and a quantity of cash. Hughes pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office, possession of class C drugs with intent to supply, and conveying class C drugs into HMP Liverpool while he worked as a prison officer at HMP Liverpool between October 9, 2017 and April 28, 2020.

On Friday, May 12, the former prison officer was jailed for four years at Liverpool Crown Court.

Phillip Meadows

Former prison officer Phillip Meadows was caught trying to smuggle thousands of pounds worth of drugs into jail and was put behind bars.

Suspicions about dad-of-four Meadows had earlier been raised by a sniffer dog during an unannounced search by a team investigating the supply of illegal items into HMP Liverpool.

But nothing was found and he was allowed in to work. The very next day, “assuming that the coast was clear" he arrived for duty but was again picked out by a drugs dog - and £91,000 worth of heroin and cannabis resin was found in his car.

Meadows, of St Leonard’s Close, Netherton, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and cannabis with intent. He was jailed for five years four months back in 2019.

Paul Heap

Paul Heap was caught taking heroin, crack cocaine and 2,000 steroid tablets into HMP Altcourse, Liverpool.

Liverpool Crown Court was told how the dad-of-two was busted when a visit to work while on sick leave sparked suspicion among his colleagues. Security staff found drugs with an estimated street value of £215,000 inside two cartons in a rucksack Heap took into the jail on June 28, 2017.

Inside one of the cartons was 523g of cannabis, 12.8g of crack cocaine and 14g of heroin. The second was stuffed with 418g of cannabis, 10.6g of crack cocaine, 2,048 steroid tablets, an iPhone, a charger and two SIM cards.

Searches of Heap's car and home in Hartley's Village, Aintree, led to the discovery of £9,100 in cash. He claimed this was savings - partly built through the sale of an Xbox games console and a drum kit he said he sold by advertising in the ECHO.

No evidence of this could be found, however, and a financial investigator discovered Heap had been struggling for cash and was using a mixture of short and long term loans and credit cards to keep ahead of creditors.

He was jailed for nine years back in 2018.

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