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Three jailed over plot to fly drugs into HMP Manchester by drone
Police stopped a van carrying a large drone less than a mile from the prison, uncovering a conspiracy that involved people both inside and outside the jail.
Drones
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Ombudsman finds prisoner who died at HMP Garth helped organise drone deliveries
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman found that Johnpaul Digweed belonged to a group making hundreds of thousands of pounds from drone drops of contraband into the Lancashire jail.
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Court of Appeal increases sentence for drone plot targeting HMP Highpoint
The Attorney General referred the case as unduly lenient, and the man’s prison term rose from two years and two months to three years and four months.
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HMP Manchester monitors publish first annual report since 2022
The Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Manchester describes a prison in need of serious investment, with high violence, vermin and a slow anti-drone window scheme.
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Smuggling into men’s prisons leads to longer sentence, convictions and jail terms
Courts have dealt with three separate cases involving contraband at HMP Five Wells, HMP Lindholme and HMP Lowdham Grange, including two drone deliveries.
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Former detective spared jail over money laundering linked to prison drone smuggling
A former Staffordshire detective received a suspended sentence after admitting money laundering connected to a gang that flew drugs and blades into jails by drone. Three men in the group were jailed.
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Steel grilles to cover up to 13,000 cell windows in drive against drone drops
A £35 million package will fund heavy-duty window grilles across prisons in England and Wales, with 17 jails at high risk of drone deliveries first in line.
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Large volumes of drugs still reaching HMP Manchester, inspectors find
The Chief Inspector of Prisons said the jail remained in a “precarious state” 15 months after an Urgent Notification, and criticised delays to work on windows targeted by drones.
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Man jailed for six years over drone drops of drugs into prisons
Police described the 28-year-old as the head of a sophisticated operation that flew drugs and phones into jails. Selfies he took with his drones turned up on his phone.
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MoJ open to projectile and laser ideas in £1.85m anti-drone competition
Guidance for inventors entering a Ministry of Justice competition to stop drones delivering contraband to prisons leaves room for non-firearm projectile launchers and low-power lasers.