A woman and an inmate have both been convicted after being caught out during a visit to see him in Forest Bank.
Demi-Leigh Wilkinson, 19, visited Anthony Daly, 21, when he was serving time for wounding at HMP Forest Bank in March last year.
During a quick exchange in the visitor’s area caught on CCTV, Wilkinson passed Daly a package. A prison officer intervened and analysis of the package revealed tobacco wrapped in Rizla papers, and within the middle was a cellophane bag of cocaine.
It had an estimated street value of between £500 and £600 and a prison value of between £2,500 and £6,000, Manchester Crown Court heard.
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Both were arrested and have since pleaded guilty to bringing/conveying a list A article into prison. Daly has now been jailed again and Wilkinson handed a suspended sentence due to her previous good character.
Prosecuting, Charlotte Noddings said that on March 13 last year Wilkinson attended the prison, based in Salford, to visit her friend, Daly.
“CCTV showed an undercover exchange between the two. A prison officer intervened and a second officer stopped Daly as he moved into the booth and asked what he had on him,” she said.
“The package, wrapped in clingfilm, was seized and examined.”
In total 49.2 grams of tobacco was recovered, and 4.75 grams of cocaine at 77pc purity. Wilkinson had previously said that she was given the package by Daly’s brother, the court heard.
Daly was said to have 28 previous convictions for 42 offences, and at the time was serving a 322 day sentence for wounding. He has since been jailed for battery and aggravated vehicle taking and was handed a 12 month sentence in December last year.
Mitigating for Daly, who refused to attend court, Mark Friend said that his client initially thought that just tobacco was being brought in by Wilkinson, but he later admitted knowing that cocaine was also concealed within the package. He added that he had an ‘uneviable record’ for someone his age.
Sentencing, Recorder Michael Armstrong said: “The biggest problem facing prisons right now is drugs. The default sentence for those convicted of taking contraband items in prison is immediate custodial sentences.”
Daly, of Hanson Street, Bury, was jailed for 30 months to run consecutively with his current sentence of imprisonment.
Wilkinson, of Bell Lane, Bury, was previously handed a suspended sentence.
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