Female prison officer locked up for smuggling phones and tobacco into jail in her gym pants
A prison officer who smuggled contraband items including phones and tobacco into jail by stuffing them into the waistband of her gym pants has been locked up herself.
Lainie Martin was rumbled by two of her colleagues at HMP Forest Bank in April this year.
The 25-year-old took mobile phones, chargers and sim cards inside while working as an officer at the jail in Salford, Greater Manchester.
She also smuggled in tobacco before hiding items in the women’s toilets.
Martin wore gym pants under her uniform, putting goods in the waistband before taking them into the prison.
Staff became suspicious when they spotted Martin using a bathroom on a different wing to where she was working at around 8am on April 7.
They watched her walk down the healthcare wing and enter a single female toilet.
When two officers searched the toilets, they discovered Martin’s haul of prohibited items in a bin.
They found eight mobile phones individually wrapped in cling film as well as chargers and sim cards. There were also two wraps of tobacco.
Martin was stopped and detained while carrying out her daily duties at the category B prison.
She was arrested and suspended by Sodexo Justice Services, the private company which runs the prison, while an investigation was carried out.
During a police interview, Martin initially denied the allegations against her, before claiming she had been ‘made to do it’ under duress.
The shamed former prison officer has now been jailed for 14 months after pleading guilty to ten charges of conveying prohibited articles into Forest Bank in Pendlebury, Salford.
PC Dan Hayes, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “This is a case where Martin, a prison officer has betrayed the trust of her colleagues, the Prison Service and the victims of the inmates from across the north west, by supplying phones and tobacco to those who have committed crimes and are serving sentences for their actions.
“Her sentencing shows that this behaviour will not be tolerated across the Prison Service.”