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| Eight sentenced for smuggling drugs into prisons by drones | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The ringleader of a gang who smuggled drugs and phones into prisons using drones has been jailed for seven years and two months. | The ringleader of a gang who smuggled drugs and phones into prisons using drones has been jailed for seven years and two months. |
| Former armed robber Craig Hickinbottom, 35, organised the flights from behind bars, Birmingham Crown Court was told. | |
| His gang put goods worth more than an estimated £1m into jails as far apart as the West Midlands and Scotland. | |
| The packages were attached to fishing lines, and flown over prison walls. Seven others were also sentenced. | The packages were attached to fishing lines, and flown over prison walls. Seven others were also sentenced. |
| The group were convicted of organising 49 drone flights, although police believe the actual number may be higher. | |
| They were also found guilty of four "throw-overs" of contraband. | |
| Broom handle with hook | |
| They were caught by chance, by cameras set up to film wildlife outside Hewell Prison in Worcestershire. | |
| Footage shows two of the men in a field, preparing a drone for flight, before sending it over the hedge to the prison grounds. | |
| Inside, the packages were retrieved by inmates using tools such as an extendable broom handle with a hook. | |
| Prison CCTV then showed others visiting their cells and walking out with packages. | |
| Drone pilot Mervyn Foster, 36, of Tipton, West Midlands, was jailed for six years and eight months for his part in the plot. | |
| Both he and Hickinbottom pleaded guilty to conspiring to bring contraband into prison, and conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances. | |
| The court was told the offences were committed between July 2015 and May this year at jails in Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Birmingham, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Liverpool, and Perth. | |
| Passing sentence, Judge Roderick Henderson said: "Prisons are difficult enough places to run - they contain people who are dangerous and vulnerable. | |
| "Supplying things into prison that should not be there - drugs, phones, tools and the like - threatens proper management... and creates real risks of violence and loss of control and discipline". |