Mother spared jail because of her children after smuggling drugs into prison

A mother who “abused her position of trust” to smuggle drugs into a prison has been spared jail because of her children.

Amy Portwood and Adrienne Juniper brought contraband into HMP Risley in Warrington, where they were employed as caretakers, after “falling in love” with convicted robbers Darren McAndrew and Philip Phythian. They also exchanged a string of “explicitly sexual” text messages and WhatsApp messages with their boyfriends behind bars, whose initials they allegedly tattooed on their bodies.

Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that Phythian served a six-year sentence for robbery and possession of a bladed article in a public place at the category C site at the end of 2021, while McAndrew was subject to an extended sentence of 12 years for robbery. and aggravated vehicle taking. Portwood and Juniper have meanwhile been “regular visitors” as care workers for contractor Care Plus.

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Philip Astbury, prosecuting, described how they were responsible for looking after a disabled prisoner called John Kelly but became involved in “romantic relationships” with Phythian and McAndrew. Portwood’s phone exchanged 1,134 phone calls with the former over a one-month period, as well as 294 text messages.

The pair also shared more than 1,000 WhatsApp messages between November 2021 and January 2022, including images that were later deleted from her device. Mr Astbury said a number of those messages were “obviously sexual in content”, while others referred to “tiny phones” and “sniffs”.

Juniper and McAndrew have since called each other 60 times and exchanged 1,598 messages, some of which were again “sexual in nature”. These included the inmate sending photos of himself to the staff member.

When the two mothers reported to work on the morning of January 7, 2022, a drug detection dog was said to have “taken an interest” in Juniper and jumped on her. However, she “gave it away” by stating that she was wearing perfume and was allowed to continue in prison.

The 35-year-old and Portwood then visited Kelly’s cell, where Phythian and McAndrew “walked around” before speaking to the two staff members. The women were seen on CCTV taking their patient to the shower in his wheelchair, which had a ‘displaced’ blue heater on the back.

This clothing was searched upon their return and contained five separate packages filled with illicit goods. Their contents included a quantity of tobacco, a mobile phone, two USB sticks, cannabis resin worth up to £2,880 in prison property, herbal cannabis valued at £1,850, £600 worth of cocaine , £200 worth of crack cocaine, and £. 240 heroin.

A search of Juniper’s home turned up £3,530 in cash, as well as around 500 Turkish liras. A further £348 was seized from a drawer in Portwood’s bedroom.

The court heard the 41-year-old – of Hughes Avenue in Orford, Warrington – had the letter ‘P’ tattooed on her forearm in an apparent reference to Phythian. Similarly, Juniper had a tattoo of the letter “D” on one of her fingers.

Phythian has a total of 18 previous convictions for 36 offenses – including receiving 10 years for robbery, wounding with intent and aggravated burglary in 2009. Gemma Maxwell, defending, said the 33-year-old had served a year after being recalled. on licence, adding: “It is accepted that the defendant has a poor record but no drug problems.

“He took steps to rehabilitate himself. He occupied a position of trust in prison.”

McAndrew’s criminal record shows 10 records for 22 felonies. These include robberies in 2000, 2003 and 2016 and wounding with intent and possession of a prohibited firearm in 2008.

The 40-year-old’s lawyer, Milena Bennett, said: “He is serving a long prison sentence under covid restrictions. He was feeling quite lonely as he didn’t have any visits from his family.

“Instead of targeting or grooming the defendant codex, he will say there was a mutual attraction between the two and denies any intimidation or coercion. He initially started asking for tobacco because he lacked it in custody.

“It progressed to asking him to bring him cannabis for personal use. Unfortunately, due to others noticing the relationship between the two of them, he was asked to ask for other items to be brought into the prison, and he did.

“He deeply regrets his actions. Shortly after committing the offences, he was released on licence.

“He came back with his partner and children. All of that came crashing down when he was recalled to custody.

“He started committing crimes from a very young age. He was leading a very dysfunctional life, coming from a dysfunctional family and falling in with the wrong crowd.

“This has resulted in him spending more time in custody than in the community. He has made efforts to begin rehabilitation and has a job as a custodial carer.”

Juniper, of St Helens Road in Leigh, Greater Manchester, has no previous convictions. Philip Tully, defending, told the court: “Both of her children are children with complex needs and if she were to receive an immediate custodial sentence the impact on the children and their care and welfare is likely to be significant.

“She worked as a carer for eight or nine months with that company before these offenses were committed without any problem. It was actually very well thought out.

“Mrs Portwood, after starting a relationship with a co-defendant, told her that someone was romantically interested in her. She foolishly got involved in what she thought was a relationship with him.

“She was struggling in her long-term relationship and was flattered by the approach. This led her to agree to take tobacco and gradually other items into prison.

“This action was totally out of character. She is a person with a good work ethic and despite the difficulties in her personal life, she was employed and financially provided for her family.

“He is a person who suffers from problems related to his mental health. She comes from a close and supportive family and has expressed her shame and disgust at her actions and the pain she has caused everyone.”

Portwood has one conviction for unrelated offenses in 2003, for which she was fined. Appearing on her behalf, Gareth Bellis said she had been “blinded by love and affection” and subjected to “some form of care”.

But he added: “She went into it with her eyes wide open. Clearly, she showed genuine remorse.

“Your honor will consider how she was involved in these crimes. You might say, but to the others, she would not have been involved.”

McAndrew and Phythian, both of no fixed address but from Manchester, admitted transporting prohibited articles into a prison and possessing a prohibited article into a prison. Appearing via video link to HMP Forest Bank, they were each given a further three years and nine months behind bars on Thursday.

Portwood and Juniper pleaded guilty to transporting prohibited articles into a prison and possessing heroin, cocaine, cannabis, cannabis resin and steroids with intent to supply. The first nodded and began to cry as she was locked up for 22 months.

Juniper, meanwhile, received 22 months in prison suspended for two years, plus 160 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days. She broke down in tears when she was spared an immediate prison sentence.

Sentencing, Judge Garrett Byrne said: “It is my view that Mr Phythian and Mr McAndrew took advantage of this opportunity and there was some degree of manipulation or persuasion. You, Portwood and Juniper, abused your position of trust as care workers providing care to prisoners. .

“You were both extremely naive, to say the least. You knew very well that these items were not allowed to be brought into the prison.

“But you did it anyway, no doubt allowing your infatuation for your co-defendants to override your decision-making. These items are valuable currency in the prison system and can be used as tools of extortion or power.”

Turning to Juniper, the judge added: “In this case, there are two children who are assessed as being extremely vulnerable and have complex needs. For these reasons, I find Ms Juniper’s case distinguishable and feel able to suspend the term of imprisonment.”

Detective Constable Brian Johnston, from the North West Regional Organized Crime Unit’s prison anti-corruption unit, said following the sentencing: “I am pleased that everyone involved has now been brought to justice. Drugs have no place in prison and hinder rehabilitation. of those there and a negative effect on prison order and discipline, often linked to violence, self-harm, aggression and debt.

“We want to assure the honest, dedicated and hardworking prison staff that we will continue to take action against any staff member who chooses to engage in corrupt activities. We encourage anyone with information about corruption in our prisons to report it.”

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