A man has pleaded guilty to a range of charges after he tried to smuggle drugs into a Hunter jail by putting them inside a tennis ball and attempting to throw the ball into the prison.
Jade Allan Thompson faced Cessnock Local Court on Wednesday over the incident at the Cessnock facility on May 31.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying a prohibited drug and one count each of bringing a prohibited drug/plant into place of detention, possessing a prohibited drug, having goods in custody, entering inclosed land that is not a prescribed premises without a lawful excuse, take and drive conveyance without consent of owner and drive motor vehicle during disqualification period.
Police said the 31-year-old and another man were riding an unregistered Yamaha motorcycle - believed to have been stolen from a Dora Creek property - when they approached the outer wall of the jail and attempted to throw an object over the top.
Corrective Services NSW officers were conducting targeted surveillance at the complex when they spotted the two men.
When they approached the pair, Thompson and the other man fled at speed on the motorcycle before crashing into a nearby tree.
Police said neither rider was injured.
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The Corrective Services officers restrained Thompson, but the other man escaped into nearby bushland.
Police attended the scene and arrested the 31-year-old.
Investigators seized a tennis ball Thompson was holding when he was arrested, which police said contained small amounts of methylamphetamine and other illicit substances.
He was taken to Maitland Hospital before being conveyed to Maitland Police Station.
Thompson did not apply for bail in court on Wednesday and it was formally refused.
Magistrate Andrew Miller adjourned the matter for sentencing at Cessnock Local Court on July 29.
