Burglar caught smuggling drugs into prison
Northumbria PoliceA burglar who was caught trying to smuggle thousands of pounds worth of drugs into a prison has been jailed for two years and four months.
Ryan Robinson, 43, from Sunderland, was spotted handing a package containing tablets and tobacco to an inmate at HMP Full Sutton during a visit in June 2024, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The drugs could be bought for £58 but be worth almost £3,500 inside, with a judge saying drugs were a "misery for those that have to endure prisons".
Robinson, who had 39 offences on his criminal record, admitted conveying a banned article into prison and breaching a suspended prison sentence imposed for repeatedly stealing wine from a Sainsbury's warehouse.
Robinson visited the prison near York at 15:30 BST on 22 June 2024 and was seen passing a package over to an inmate, prosecutor Gurjot Kaur said.
It was found to contain 45.6g of tobacco and about 60 medication tablets, the court heard.
The drugs could be bought for £58 but in prison could sell for up to £3,450, Kaur said.
In mitigation, the court heard Robinson got into debt with a drug dealer who pressured him into taking the package into prison.
GoogleRobinson claimed he did not know drugs were inside but both the prosecutor and the judge, Recorder Peter Makepeace KC, said he had been "wilfully ignorant".
The judge said people like Robinson were "essential" in the chain for getting drugs into prisons, which were "terrorised" by the problem.
He said drugs were an "endless source of misery for those that have to endure prisons".
When his attempt to take the drugs into prison failed to clear his debt, Robinson burgled a Sainsbury's warehouse in Sunderland five times and stole thousands of pounds worth of wine and spirits, the court heard.
For that offence, he was jailed for two years suspended for two years in March 2025 and ordered to complete 80 hours unpaid work and up to 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days with the probation service, the court heard.
Robinson, of Guildford Street, repeatedly failed to turn up to appointments which put him in breach of that order, the court heard.
He was jailed for six months for the prison offence and had 22 months of his suspended two years activated to be served consecutively.
