Jail for prison drugs smuggler

A mother-of-three who tried to smuggle drugs into Hindley Prison - to earn a little extra cash - has been jailed for 12 months.
Hindley PrisonHindley Prison
Hindley Prison

Michelle Eccleston, 36, had been made homeless when she succumbed to temptation and agreed to hand over packages to a serving prisoner, Bolton Crown Court was told.

But prison officers stationed within the Bickershaw jail’s visitors centre, on October 24, became suspicious and seized packages of cannabis resin and amphetamines from Eccleston, the court heard.

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Eccleston, of Cranfield Road, Norris Green, Liverpool, who appeared in court via a video link, pleaded guilty to the two drugs offences.

Jailing her, Judge Timothy Clayson, Recorder of Bolton, said her position had been aggravated by the fact that she had received a six-month prison sentence for possession of drugs with intent to supply in April 2016.

Judge Clayson said it had to be conceded that while the actual amount of drugs seized had not been specified by the prosecution, they were not thought to be substantial packages.

But the judge observed that smuggling drugs into prison had ben described as a “grave offence” in recent Court of Appeal rulings.

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Defence counsel David Poglase said it was accepted by the defendant that there always had to be an “element of deterrence” when it came to imposing any sentence which involved bringing drugs into prison premises.

He told the court that his client, who had her first child at the age of 15, had a history of mental health difficulties and had also fallen into abusing hard drugs.

“But she has not taken heroin or crack cocaine for more than two-and-half years,” added Mr Poglase.

“If she steers clear of drugs and she manages to maintain her mental health then there are positive signs for her future.

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“It also has to be accepted that she does not have an attractive record.”

The court heard that she had been in a relationship but this foundered when she was sent to prison for her last drugs offence.

She had been approached to take drugs into Hindley at a difficult time in her life.

Mr Poglase added: “She was homeless at the time, having had no money to pay the rent and she thought, foolishly given the inevitably that she eventually would be caught, that this was a way of making some extra money.”

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He told the court that the prisoner was not someone that she had been associated with outside of prison.

“She never even received any money for agreeing to carry out this and now realises that she will be the one who pays the price for what she has done,” he said.Eccleston had been even trusted by the authorities to be sent out on temporary release from Styal Prison, while on remand, to carry out work as a hairdresser in the community.She had also performed a similar role for fellow prisoners at the Cheshire women’s prison, the court heard.