Liverpool prison officer who smuggled tobacco in bra jailed
The court heard Peters walked around the prison for several hours with the tobacco in her bra before it was passed on.For three months she had helped to get items into the jail, including mobile phone chargers, tobacco and bottles of vodka.She also smuggled some alcohol into the jail disguised as water in Evian bottles for a payment of £500 a time.The trial heard Peters was believed to have been paid £5,000 for bringing in the bottles of vodka without detection.
'Tentacles of threats'
Peters' defence team said she had been "emotionally blackmailed" and "manipulated" by prisoners on the wing.Defence counsel, Michael Lavery told the court that the "tentacles of threats" to Peters were direct and serious after she had been "groomed" into the position.But judge, David Swinnerton, told Peters: "There was an element of greed and you knew you shouldn't have been hiding items in your bra and did it 15 times and were paid £9,000 in total to do so." He said bringing in phone charging cables had allowed criminals to run their drug empires from prison. Judge Swinnerton said Peters was "ill-suited" to the career and it was a "difficult environment", but her actions "affected the control and discipline of prisoners".The court heard she had suffered personal losses, including the death of her husband and her car had been set on fire during her first night shift.Peters had worked as a pathologist technician for 30 years, before joining the prison staff in Fazakerley in 2022.She was arrested in June 2023 while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
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