A man who tried to fly drugs and mobile phones into HMP Highpoint by drone will spend longer in prison. The Court of Appeal has increased his sentence.
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves, referred the case to the court under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Judges added one year and two months to his term.
Police tracked the man on 14 November last year as he travelled from his home to London to meet associates. The next day, he booked into a hotel in Suffolk using a false name.
In the early hours of 16 November, he left the hotel carrying a bag. He took a taxi to the A143 and walked into a field nearby.
When he realised police were watching him, he dropped the bag and ran. He crossed a river, but police dogs caught him.
The abandoned bag held a drone with a range of over three miles. It also contained cannabis, tobacco, mobile phones, SIM cards, dongles and charging equipment. Highpoint lay within the drone’s flight range of the spot where he abandoned the bag.
In February, Ipswich Crown Court jailed the man for two years and two months. That term covered conspiracy to convey banned items into or out of prison. It also covered a breach of a suspended sentence order.
The Court of Appeal raised it on 19 August to three years and four months.
Ms Reeves said she welcomed the decision. “Conspiring to smuggle a drone, phones and drugs into a prison is not a minor matter,” she said. She said such devices let organised criminals coordinate activity from behind bars and undermine the security that protects the public.
HMP Highpoint is a category C prison for men in the East of England. At its last full inspection, in January 2024, inspectors rated respect as good and safety as reasonably good. They judged preparation for release not sufficiently good and purposeful activity poor.
