THREE people have been jailed after smuggling drugs into Forest Bank prison.

Anthony Windsor, aged 37,who was serving a prison term for violent robbery and is now at Lindholme Prison, near Doncaster, has had his jail sentence extended by four years and four months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to convey drugs into prison.

Dwayne Mulligan, aged 31, now of Altcourse Prison, Liverpool, has had his jail sentence extended by 32 months and Lucy Whitehurst, aged 23, of Royle Street, Denton, has been jailed for four years and two months after each also pleaded guilty to committing the same offence.

The conspiracy came to light after police launched an investigation into the supply of prohibited items into prisons.

Prison officers at HMP Manchester had discovered bank details of individuals connected to Windsor in a number of cells in the prison and alerted police.

The investigation found that cash transfers were regularly being made into Whitehurst’s bank account.

Whitehurst, along with Mulligan, then used the money to buy drugs which they brought into the prisons when they visited Windsor.

On Tuesday December 13, 2016, Whitehurst and Mulligan were detained at HMP Manchester after passing a package of drugs to Windsor.

Prison officers observed Whitehurst stand up to hug Windsor while Mulligan retrieved a parcel from inside his clothing and placed it into the waistband of Windsor’s trousers.

The drugs were analysed and found to be cocaine, cannabis and Spice and are thought to have been worth up to £5,400 when sold to other prisoners.

DC Adam Cronshaw, of Greater Manchester Police's Serious and Organised Crimes Group, said: “Greater Manchester Police are working closely with HMP Manchester and the Titan team to combat the smuggling of drugs and phones into prisons.

"We are determined to disrupt this type of organised crime and will relentlessly prosecute anyone involved. Drugs inside prisons prevent prisoners breaking their addiction and often gets them into debt.

“Drug abuse in prisons also leads to further crimes being committed and impacts on the safety of prison staff.”