Prisoner on day release tried to smuggle in drugs
A prisoner on day release from a jail tried to smuggle cannabis and heroin back inside.
Emmanuel Amoah, 24, who was coming to the end of a nine year sentence for causing death by dangerous driving and robbery, was jailed for a further four-and-a-half years.
He had been let out of The Mount Prison in Bovingdon to become used to living in the community again, St Albans Crown Court heard yesterday (Tuesday).
On March 26 - just over three months before his release date - he went into Hemel Hempstead town centre and bought 152 grams of cannabis and five grams of heroin, said prosecutor David Chrimes.
He was caught when he returned to the prison later that day and when questioned he said the drugs were "for his personal use," said Mr Chrimes.
Amoah, from Hackney in London, pleaded guilty to two charges of bringing banned items into a prison.
Defence barrister Rebecca Fairbairn said he was due for release from the original sentence on June 29. She said Amoah had spent his time in jail very wisely, having amassed 30 certificates. He is due to start an Open University course in finance.
"It is tragic that he has done so well and made this fatal mistake," she said.
Jailing him for a further four-and-a-half years, Judge John Plumstead said: "The real mischief is that in prison there is an illicit market in controlled drugs. People take drugs into prison and feed that market.
"Drugs in prison are a vicious and unpleasant trade that leads to people who ought to be safe from the influence of drugs maintaining their habit or sometimes acquiring a habit. People leave prison in debt and that entails violence or causes people to commit further crimes to pay off their debts."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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