A healthcare assistant has been jailed for smuggling cocaine and ketamine into a prison where she worked. Megan Woodham, 30, was jailed for six years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine by smuggling it into HMP Risley in Warrington, Cheshire, when she worked there.
Woodham used her job to conceal the shipments of drugs, which she then handed over to inmate Daniel Doran. She also used her home as the "safehouse" for a wider ring involved in the supply of millions of pounds of cocaine.
Woodham, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, was jailed on Monday alongside Doran, 32, and Kelsey Higgins, 26, after a two-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Doran and Higgins were also found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Doran, of Kirkby, Merseyside, was sentenced to 15 years in jail while Higgins, of Bootle, Merseyside, received 13-and-a-half years.
Valerie Doran, 54, also of Kirkby, Merseyside, was found guilty on December 15 for money laundering and is due to be sentenced on January 20. The investigation was in connection with the previous conviction of John Butler, 27, who was found in possession of 10kg of cocaine with an estimated value of £1million.
Merseyside Police stopped a black Volkswagen car being driven by Butler carrying the drugs in January last year. He was jailed for eight years in February after admitting to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
Detective sergeant Peter Sloan said: "This was a complex investigation which has developed from the arrest of Butler and a subsequent investigation resulted from that stop-check. Organised crime is hugely damaging to our communities, often involving intimidation, violence and creating fear and it is these criminals who run County Lines. Criminals involved in organised crime have no thought for anyone other than themselves, and their criminal intent and greed."
