Prison officer who smuggled tobacco in bra jailed

A former prison officer who smuggled alcohol and phone chargers into a jail and hid tobacco in her bra has been jailed.

Barbara Peters, 57, was paid £9,000 to bring goods into HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, which she did on 15 occasions, the court heard.

Her defence team said she had been "emotionally blackmailed" and "manipulated" by prisoners on the wing but the trial judge said there had been an "element of greed" which led to her actions.

Peters, of Hicks Road, Seaforth, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey banned items to the jail at an earlier hearing, was sentenced to 10 months at Liverpool Crown Court.

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.

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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