HMP Lindholme: Yorkshire prison worker jailed after trying to smuggle £250,000 of drugs into jail
A worker at a Yorkshire prison has been jailed after she was found attempting to smuggle £250,000 worth of drugs into the jail.
Michala Stubbs was working at the education department at HMP Lindholme when she was found with half a kilogram of cocaine and ketamine on her way into the prison during a staff search.
The 40-year-old, of The Crescent, Doncaster, claimed she had been coerced into smuggling the drugs into the jail by a prisoner who had made threats to her children.
But her web of lies was untangled by South Yorkshire Police’s prison anti-corruption unit when analysis of mobile phone conversations revealed she had sent a text message to herself so should be make the argument she was under duress if caught.
Further CCTV analysis confirmed she had been lying when she claimed to have been threatened, and she was jailed for five years and two months at Sheffield Crown Court on November 20 for possession with intent to supply cocaine and ketamine.
Detective Constable Scott Jarvis, who was the officer in charge of this case, said: "Every day, we work with prisons in Doncaster to tackle drug smuggling and other criminality in order to ensure a prison environment where people who have committed crimes can properly rehabilitate.
"Criminality within prison threatens to derail that rehabilitation, which can cause people to reoffend and affects the safety of our communities, which is why we continue to work closely with the prison service to stamp out any behaviour that goes against these values.
"Stubbs betrayed the trust given to her as someone employed to work within one of our prisons. She desperately tried to cover her tracks but her story just didn't add up and a thorough investigation led to the truth being revealed.
"The conveyance of any prohibited article into prisons poses a serious risk to both staff and prisoners, and can trigger instances of violence and disorder.
"Prisons must remain free of criminality and we remain committed to tackling this behaviour and ensuring that anyone responsible for committing these crimes will be dealt with by the full force of the law."