A prison officer has been jailed for his central role in a plot to smuggling drugs and phones into a jail. Eights others were also sentenced over the racket at n HMP Hewell in Worcestershire.

Prison guard Martin Mills was stopped as he entered the secure facility, near Redditch, and was found to be smuggling items including drugs, mobile phones and SIM cards in boxes of cereal. Detectives were able to link several other people to the case, including prisoners housed on the block Mills worked on.

West Mercia Police said family members of the prisoners paid money into Mills’ bank account and he would then take the prohibited items to work for the prisoners to sell on in prison. The investigation started in April 2018 and now nine people have been sentenced for conspiracy to bring, throw and convey prohibited items into HMP Hewell.

READ MORE: Classic Ford Escort fraudsters jailed over £225k insurance scam that ran for eight years

The charges included smuggling either list A items (drugs) or list B items (mobile phones and associated equipment), or both. The defendants were sentenced as follows:

1. Martin Mills, 34, of Talbot Road, Bromsgrove- pleaded guilty to list A and list B charges. Sentenced to 4 years in total for list A and list B.
   
   
2. Iain Maclachlan-Sim, 34, of Mason Avenue, Leamington Spa- found guilty of list A and list B charges. Sentenced to 4 years for list A and 16 months for list B, the sentences will run concurrently.
   
   
3. Hamza Mohumed, 32,of The Bentree, Coventry- found guilty of list A and list B charges. Sentenced to 4 years for list A and 16 months for list B, the sentences will run concurrently.
   
   
4. Tony Graham Barrett, 28, of Lutterworth Road, Nuneaton- pleaded guilty to list A and list B charges. Sentenced to three years and two months for list A and 10 months for list B, the sentences will run concurrently
5. David Ward, 53, of Barker Butts Lane, Coventry - pleaded guilty to list B charges. Sentenced to one year and nine months.
   
   
6. Jy Kennedy, 30, of Kenilworth Road, Leamington Spa- pleaded guilty to list B charges. Sentenced to seven months, suspended for 12 months, and given a £250 fine.
   
   
7. Isiah Gill, 34, of Mason Road, Birmingham - pleaded guilty to list B charges. Sentenced to 10 months, suspended for 12 months, and 80 hours of unpaid work.
   
   
8. Leanne Miles, 32, of Steinway, Coventry- found guilty of list A and list B charges. Sentenced to 12 months, suspended for 12 months for list A and six months suspended for 12 months, the sentences will run concurrently.
   
   
9. Ann Marie Sim, 52, of Mason Avenue, Leamington Spa- found guilty of list B charges. Sentenced to six months, suspended for 12 months.

Speaking after the case, Det Con Claire Masters, who led the investigation for West Mercia Police, said: “This has been a complicated and long-running investigation and I’m pleased that all those involved have now been brought to justice. Prisons should be a place of safety and the actions of Mills and his accomplices threatened that.

“Drugs have no place in prison and hinder the rehabilitation of those who are there, often when they are at their most vulnerable. I hope these sentences show that we take all reports of crime seriously, regardless of who commits them and where they took place.”

Stay up to date with the very latest from your Birmingham or West Midlands street or neighbourhood with our Birmingham News Email Updates