Paul Heap, an HMP Altcourse prison officer employed by the British security services company G4S, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment after he was busted smuggling oral anabolic steroids into the Men’s Category B prison facility in Liverpool. Heap also smuggled a variety of other contraband including heroin, crack cocaine, cannabis, Spice, mobile phones and SIM cards.
Heap pleaded guilty to 11 charges including seven counts of possession with intent to supply drugs and three counts of “conveying” prohibiting items. Heap claimed that he was pressured into smuggling contraband by an inmate. He denied being threatened by the inmate but refused to reveal the identity of the prisoner.
Liverpool Crown Court Judge David Aubrey QC displayed no sympathy for Heap’s plight. Judge Aubrey chastised Heap for turning to “the dark side” by giving drugs to “ruthless prisoners”. This “serious social evil” demanded a harsh punishment from the court.
“What you were doing, by your pleas of guilty, was to contrive to aggravate and exacerbate the very issues you were employed to seek, control and prevent,” Judge Aubrey said. “You had, in effect, changed sides. You had changed to the other side, the dark side… [Drugs in prison] are a serious social evil giving power to ruthless prisoners.”
Heap was implicated by a joint investigation in drug distribution between the Merseyside Police and the TITAN’s Prison Investigation Unit. The 15-year veteran prison officer was identified as a prime suspect at the HMP Altcourse facility.
In June 2017, Heap was detained when he showed up to work on his day office. Merseyside Police officers found two suspicious juice cartons in his gym bag. The cartons did not appear to contain any liquids. Inside the juice cartons, police found thousands of blue, white and yellow steroid tablets; cannabis; crack cocaine; heroin; an iPhone and two SIM cards. The contraband had an estimated value of £215,000.
Heap claimed he had no idea exactly what was inside the juice cartons. He suspected they contained cannabis but his suppliers never told him. He was simply paid £1000 for each delivery of contraband smuggled into the prison.
Andrew McInnes, the defense attorney representing Heap, noted that his client had no previous convictions and has been gainfully employed as a responsible member of society for most of his life with the latest “disastrous” decision notwithstanding. McInnes said that Heap is very worried that he will be particularly “vulnerable” in a prison population given his previous occupation as a prison officer.
Paul Heap, an HMP Altcourse prison officer employed by the British security services company G4S, who smuggled steroids and drugs on behalf of prison inmates.
Source:
Aoraha, C. & Davies, M. (September 6, 2018). Prison officer caught smuggling £200k of drugs into jail inside JUICE cartons. Retrieved from thesun.co.uk/news/7188914/paul-heap-drugs-juice-cartons-hmp-altcourse/