Watch: Dealers hurl drugs over wall of prison
Credit: Cambridgeshire Police
Two masked dealers threw several packages of illegal drugs over a prison wall, security footage shows.
CCTV captured the pair, who were wearing face coverings, emerging from a nearby wooded area and running towards the perimeter of HMP Peterborough.
After crossing the facility’s boundary, they can be seen throwing the packages over the prison wall.
One of the packages initially failed to clear the fencing and landed on the grass, leading the masked figure to throw it for a second time.
The video is likely to spark debate over the availability of drugs in prisons and the challenge of keeping them out.
A report released in April by prison inspectors found that nearly one in four inmates at HMP Peterborough were active drug users.
Hubert Berus, who was arrested for transferring drugs into HMP Peterborough in 2021, threw several items inside the prison on a number of occasions between January and May that year.
A package containing class A drugs with an estimated value of £19,200 was recovered from the prison and later found to have Berus’ DNA on it.
Another package, also containing Berus’ DNA, carrying almost £2,000 worth of cannabis and tobacco was discovered as part of a separate incident after it landed in an area between the prison wall and the exercise yard.
Following his arrest for an unrelated matter in March 2021, messages from Berus’ mobile phone were downloaded in which he described throwing a package into HMP Peterborough.
The messages described one item that had “bounced off the wall” and revealed it took two attempts to throw it inside the prison.
After months of investigation, Berus was arrested by plain-clothed officers from the Neighbourhood Support Team in Eastfield, near Peterborough city centre, on Oct 21, 2021.
Berus, of Fletton, Peterborough, appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on Oct 4, where he was sentenced to three years and two months in prison after admitting to supplying cocaine, heroin and cannabis.
His sentence also included a charge of affray – alongside Kevinas Lazauskas, 20 – in relation to an incident in Eastfield on Oct 22 last year.
In the early hours of the morning, police received a 999 call from a distressed man stating that men in balaclavas were outside his home on Granville Street and were threatening to harm his cousin.
Lazauskas was jailed for one year and 11 months after admitting affray, possession with intent to supply cannabis and breach of a previously suspended sentence for drugs offences.
Det Con Jacob Reeves, who investigated the case, said: “Not only does this case show our commitment to tackling drug dealing in our county, but also the seriousness of prohibited items going into our prisons. This will absolutely not be tolerated.
“This has been a long and complex investigation, however I am pleased Berus has now admitted his crimes and will be spending significant time behind bars.”