Prison officer who smuggled drugs into HMP Doncaster jailed

Thomas Walls, 26, formerly of Zetland Road, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a Class A drug and possession with intent to supply a Class B drug after bags of white powder, cannabis and spice were found in his prison-issue bag.

As well as the drugs, he was also found to be in possession of mobile phones, tobacco, lighters and chargers, all in individually wrapped packages.

Concerns were first raised about Wallis by prison staff who had grown suspicious about the way he started to evade staff searches.

He was captured on CCTV trying to smuggle the items last November before being arrested and taken into police custody.

Detective Constable Jon White from the prison crime unit in Doncaster’s Operation Fortify team, said: “Walls abused his position as a prison officer and now faces a custodial sentence himself.

“He made repeated, conscious efforts to avoid the regular searches by his employer, in his attempts to convey such items into the prison, fuelling organised crime within the establishment, which in turn put his colleague’s safety at risk on a daily basis.

“We are grateful to our partners at HMP Doncaster for alerting us to this criminal behaviour and I hope this result today sends a strong message to any individual thinking of attempting to smuggle items into prisons in Doncaster: we are watching, we will take action and we will bring you before the courts. These people are not your friends; they will be your co-accused.”

And John Hewitson, Serco prison director at HMP Doncaster, said: “Serco notes the outcome of the Sheffield Crown Court regarding the inappropriate behaviour of one of our former employees.

“Serco has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to people breaking the law and will always act swiftly to ensure those who do are quickly bought to justice.

"There is no scenario where we will ever accept people bringing contraband into a secure prison establishment and we will continue to work with local police authorities to eradicate this type of risk.”

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