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00:00It's just gone midnight and so they're running to a schedule they were saying
00:08they've got someone waiting so we will now go and follow them and then if it
00:16goes to plan then that pastor is gonna end up in a prison tonight. For the last
00:21few months I've been learning about how some inmates were grooming female
00:25officers amid a crisis of corruption in the prison system. Right now I'm
00:33following a gang in the process of delivering a package of drugs directly
00:38to a prisoners window. These guys are part of a much bigger organized crime
00:55operation that involves a network of dodgy officers, drugs and millions of
01:00pounds. But this investigation didn't start here.
01:05That's how we live at Wonsworth, man. It all kicked off a year ago when I was sent a
01:12video of a prison officer having sex with an inmate.
01:15Guys, we made history, that's what I tell you. They want it to be posted, that's what you're saying to me.
01:20They want to go viral, innit? Yeah.
01:22It set me off on a mission to uncover what is really going on inside our prisons.
01:27And once you do something to them, then you're in the internet.
01:31I found an epidemic of officers being corrupted by inmates.
01:35Got a career. I won't see what I'm going to go inside.
01:38Which led me to a much bigger story.
01:40I was so deep into it and I did realize I'm in big trouble.
01:43Involving claims of corruption that go to the very top.
01:48In order for somebody to do something, everybody has to be paid.
01:52Now I want to know, how much control do organized crime gangs have over our prisons?
01:58That is the prison guard's car on fire.
02:02And what are the risks to prison officers willing to stand in their way?
02:07I'm an officer at HMPL, of course, there's been a car settled inside my house all weekend.
02:12Just in fear for my family life.
02:15I've ruined so much, just to prove a point.
02:20At the moment, I'm putting a lot of time into going around the country, lots of different places.
02:35I'm following stories of prison officers who've had relationships with prisoners.
02:40But the vast majority have just been the door slammed in my face.
02:46So far, I've spoken to one former female officer and her partner.
02:51They worked together to smuggle and contraband when he was still a prisoner.
02:55Bigger than being hired, you know what I mean?
02:57You know what I mean?
02:58You know what I mean?
02:59Security and governance.
03:00You know what I mean?
03:01You know what I mean?
03:02Everybody's kept asleep.
03:03Was their story isolated?
03:05Or was corruption of senior staff more ingrained?
03:08As I waited for a lead to come through,
03:13I reached out to someone who was all over my timeline.
03:17Morning, guys.
03:18Sunday morning.
03:19I hope you all have had a good weekend.
03:21Jamie served time in 28 prisons for convictions, including a serious assault.
03:26Can you speak to me two seconds?
03:28Jail Tales.
03:29These days, he spends his time speaking directly to recently released inmates for his social media channel.
03:35It's called Jail Tales.
03:37I've been building a picture of how drugs are getting into prisons,
03:43so now I want Jamie to give me an insider view on exactly what is driving demand.
03:48Is this your full-time thing now?
03:50Yeah.
03:51Yeah?
03:52Most of my days, I'm, like, going here and everywhere to try and get videos.
03:56I get thousands of messages a week, like, and a lot of times I get people saying,
04:00mate, I love what you do.
04:01You've stopped me from doing this.
04:02You've helped me on this.
04:03Jamie wants to show his huge online following the hidden impact prison can have on inmates.
04:09The first ever time I tried opiates or heroin or anything like that was in 2011,
04:17Loudoun Grange, BCAP prison, rough jail, life is over ten years and stuff like that.
04:22Paint a bit of a picture for me, like, tell me how did that happen in jail?
04:26It's anything in prison to get your head over the wall.
04:29You're sick of being in jail and you want a day out.
04:31Let's get off our heads and take drugs.
04:32I had a pad mate.
04:33I said, how do you sleep so much?
04:35And he said, I'm on methadone.
04:37And I'm like, what?
04:38I said, how do you get that?
04:39He went, I'll drink it in the morning.
04:40The next morning, he was spitting in a cup and bringing it back and I was showing it
04:43with him.
04:44And then about a week later, I remember saying to him, get some of that.
04:47I've got gear.
04:48Someone's got gear.
04:49Jumped on this again.
04:50I'm like, what does it do to you?
04:51Exactly the same thing as that does, methadone.
04:53So I went and he went and got heroin.
04:56So that was the start of it?
04:57I was injecting for a year, yeah.
04:59It did take over my life.
05:02If you've got an environment that is conducive to, you know, people starting to use heroin
05:08who haven't used before, that doesn't sound like it's part of a process of rehabilitating.
05:14Well, you're not going to get rehabilitated properly with what's in the prisons.
05:18Today, Jamie is planning to film inmates leaving one of the prisons he's done time in.
05:23Guys, we are now on a quick dash to HMP Kirkham, so I'll see you in a minute.
05:29Before we can even get out of the car, someone recognises him.
05:33What's he saying?
05:35I was assuming it was someone that follows him online.
05:39But these guys weren't exactly looking for an autograph.
05:43That's so shocking in your face, you little rat.
05:45Yeah, you don't scare me about getting out of the car.
05:47I'm not scaring about getting out of the car.
05:48You're mad.
05:49No, no, no, no.
05:50This is, I'm filming for your sake.
05:51If you can fight me, I'm not arsed about getting out of the car.
05:53If you just want to fight me, we'll fight.
05:54I'm more bothered about these.
05:55If you want to fight me, come round the corner.
05:57Yeah, my safety.
05:58Tell me to get round there.
05:59My safety.
06:00Yeah, all right.
06:01And I can't wait until you put your video up as well.
06:03When you put your video up, I'll react in to you and you've been told.
06:05Sound.
06:06Sound.
06:07Sound.
06:08Sound.
06:09Sound.
06:10Sound.
06:11Yeah.
06:13All right.
06:14You're fine, Jeremy.
06:15You're fine, you're fine.
06:16I got a grasp.
06:17You told me to get out of the corner, but you couldn't come out of the corner.
06:18Yeah, all right.
06:19Go round there.
06:20Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:21Jeremy, you're fine.
06:22You're fine.
06:23You're fine.
06:24Explain that level of aggro, why this office starts.
06:28In 2021, someone shot me from my mum's front door, yeah?
06:32Was someone convicted?
06:3320 years and 18 and a half years ago.
06:3520 years and 18 and a half years?
06:37Yeah.
06:38So proper long sentences.
06:39Shot me, but yeah, 9mm from my mum's front door.
06:41Do you know why they shot you?
06:42Because I've given them a good hiding in the pub an hour before.
06:44When I stopped in court, but I didn't say no one's names.
06:47And when I think about it, like, for months afterwards, I felt dirty.
06:51I felt like I knew what I'd done was wrong kind of thing at the time.
06:55But, Jeremy, you'd just been shot.
06:56Yeah, I know that.
06:57I know that.
06:58But, like, it was the code I'd agreed and abided by all my life.
07:02So just by the fact that you'd used the court system, you'd gone to the police?
07:05Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:06I get it.
07:07I understand it.
07:08I would have called me a grass.
07:12I looked up the guy who shot Jamie and, get this, just a few weeks into his sentence,
07:18he was in trouble again.
07:20This time for corrupting a prison officer to bring him drugs and phones.
07:24It felt like these cases of low-ranking officers being manipulated by inmates were kind of everywhere.
07:31But then, a story broke that took things to a whole new level.
07:36A former prison governor has been found guilty of misconduct in a public office
07:41for having a relationship with a drug-dealing gang boss locked up in the jail she ran.
07:46Kerry Pegg, who is 42, was told by a judge at Preston Crown Court that she will serve a custodial sentence.
07:55When he applied to be temporarily released before the end of his sentence,
07:58she approved Anthony Saunderson's request without having the authority to do so.
08:03And after serving his sentence, Saunderson later gifted Pegg a £12,000 Mercedes.
08:09So this is a governor that's been corrupted.
08:12It's not just a regular prison officer.
08:15Keep in mind this is the woman that's meant to be in charge of the prison.
08:18You know, up until now I've thought this is about vulnerable prison officers
08:23who have been manipulated by inmates, but this takes it into another league.
08:28Because if the governor's being corrupted, then that's the person at the top of the triangle.
08:33There was no suggestion that Kerry Pegg had been involved in smuggling contraband,
08:37but this was the second time I was hearing about a banged-up drug dealer corrupting senior prison staff.
08:43In order for somebody to do something, everybody has to be paid.
08:50A pattern was emerging that suggested inmates with access to money and drugs
08:55can buy influence inside prison.
08:58I wanted to know if that was true.
09:00As you can imagine, it isn't like you just call a number and say,
09:05hey, do you want to talk about your criminal activity?
09:07It doesn't work like that.
09:08So there's been quite a lot of negotiation and a long process.
09:12Someone has given me a place to meet.
09:16I'd arranged to meet some dealers who'd sold drugs whilst in jail.
09:25I think that's them.
09:27Put them cameras down, you know, and just follow us, yeah?
09:39Yeah, yeah.
09:40Put them cameras down.
09:41Perfect, perfect.
09:42I'm not following you.
09:51Shall I wait?
09:53Shall I come?
09:54Yeah?
09:55All right, we're good.
09:56Come on.
09:57Let's go.
09:59How are you doing, people?
10:00You okay?
10:03So my name is Bobine.
10:07Are we rolling?
10:11How long were you inside for?
10:13Roughly around two years.
10:15Like, I'm in there with people that I do in life and just follow them.
10:19And it's like, these people are addicted to drugs.
10:23And then I'm running in the jail.
10:24I've got what they want.
10:26Some people have been in there, like, longer than I've been alive.
10:30They're just behind the door all day.
10:33They've got nothing to do.
10:35They're getting drugs to get their head down and stuff like that.
10:38What kind of drugs were being used?
10:40Slice.
10:41That's actually what a lot of people want in jail.
10:43That was getting my floor cleaned in the morning,
10:46just from a little cog.
10:47I'm not getting nothing to tidy my pipe.
10:49Let's get someone to come in and sweep my floor in his hands and knees
10:52just so we can get a smoke for the night.
10:54I'd seen videos online which appeared to show addicted inmates
10:59doing chores for their dealers behind bars.
11:01But what these guys told me next was way more sinister.
11:05If you've got a problem with somebody, you can just say,
11:09yo, go throw a kettle of water on him over there.
11:11I'll do you a bit of spice.
11:13That's getting that dealt with.
11:15Are you wanting anything done?
11:17Even if you just want extra food,
11:19because you've only got £60 to spend a week,
11:21do you some spice?
11:23You make it sound like it's your currency.
11:25That's what I'm saying.
11:26That's like the biggest currency in jail, spice.
11:30Isn't that just exploitation?
11:32Are you exploiting someone's addiction?
11:34Yeah, literally.
11:36But it's just normal in there, right?
11:38That's what you're seeing day to day.
11:40Even the screws don't look at it funny.
11:42Your staff are working past.
11:43You've got your dunny on his hands and knees
11:45and they know that's not his cellies cleaning.
11:47They know exactly what's going on.
11:49It's just normal in there.
11:51It's mad in there.
11:53They're really clear they can only do what they're doing
11:57with the cooperation of people in the prison system
12:01or, at the very least, people turning a blind eye.
12:05Oh, my God, what does that say? Spice?
12:07Yeah.
12:10Ruthless dealers, a captive market of addicts
12:13and prison staff willing to turn a blind eye.
12:17It's a toxic recipe for disaster.
12:20Wait, massage?
12:21It's obvious that this mix isn't confined to just one prison.
12:26And if those videos are anything to go by,
12:28then it's happening all over the place.
12:30Are you going in?
12:31See about that?
12:32I'm from the BBC.
12:33Can I just, can I ask you a couple of questions?
12:35I'm not going to speak to you up.
12:37It had been months now since I'd first started asking questions
12:40about HMP Wandsworth, the prison where Linda,
12:43the former officer at the centre of the sex tape scandal,
12:46had been working.
12:49So far, only one person had agreed to speak to me
12:52on condition of anonymity.
12:55Why do you think so many of your colleagues
12:57were so reluctant to speak to me?
13:00Because we've been instructed not to speak to the media.
13:04But by who?
13:06By the senior management.
13:08There's a sign outside going in and out of the prison
13:12which clearly says not to speak to any person from the media.
13:18But then finally, another breakthrough.
13:21Rachel worked as an officer at HMP Wandsworth for two years.
13:32Tell she decided she had no choice but to leave.
13:35What have you been up to today?
13:37Just getting ready.
13:40Are you a bit nervous?
13:42I'm a bit nervous.
13:43You do not need to be nervous at all, honestly.
13:45You absolutely don't need to be nervous.
13:47I know I have a lot to say and it needs to be said.
13:50But it is hard to relive such a difficult chapter of my life.
13:58I appreciate you're nervous,
13:59but why did you decide that you want to speak to me?
14:02Because I think it's really important
14:04that people understand what really goes on.
14:07It all happens, you know, behind ten-foot walls
14:10and it's very, like, out of sight and out of mind.
14:14And I think if people really understood what was going on,
14:16then maybe we could have more constructive conversations
14:19about what we need to change.
14:24Did you believe in what you were doing?
14:26Did you get up in the morning and think,
14:28you know what I'm doing is difficult, but it's valuable?
14:31A hundred percent, definitely.
14:33I never questioned if I was in the right job
14:35or if I had made the right choice.
14:37I would have found it really hard to leave if I hadn't had that push.
14:41What was the push?
14:43A young prisoner took his own life
14:46and there was a staff WhatsApp group chat
14:49where everybody was talking really horribly about him
14:54and saying that they were glad that he was dead
14:57and calling him really awful names.
14:59One person said that they hope he suffered while he died.
15:09I was disgusted by the messages.
15:14It wasn't just officers.
15:16Multiple people throughout the hierarchy
15:18didn't challenge it in any way.
15:20And I did look at those people differently and think,
15:23do you think that it's okay
15:25or do you think it's wrong
15:27but you don't want to ruin your career by speaking out?
15:31So I thought, this is endangering other people in my care.
15:34I have a duty of care to these people.
15:36So I knew I was going to report it.
15:40What happened?
15:42Two people who had made sort of the most egregious comments
15:45were suspended and I was called up to meet the governing governor
15:49and the head of security and they said,
15:51we need to move you off of your unit because you're not safe.
15:55And I said, I know my prisoners very well.
15:58I've worked there for two years.
15:59I'm happy to challenge their views on snitching.
16:02And they said to me, no, you're not safe.
16:04You're at risk from staff.
16:05You're under threat from your colleagues.
16:09There's an expectation that you don't speak out against other people.
16:12And it obviously did put a bit of a target on my back.
16:16There were quite a few occasions where prisoners were saying to me,
16:20stand up for yourself.
16:21Like, why are you letting them be so rude to you?
16:24So it just was very uncomfortable for me now
16:26to be in a position where the only people defending me are prisoners.
16:31I got in touch with HMP Wandsworth.
16:33They told me they investigated the comments and dismissed two officers.
16:38If you found yourself in a situation where the prisoners are the ones that are kind of sticking up for you,
16:45did that leave you vulnerable to them possibly thinking that they might have control of the situation?
16:54It absolutely is a situation where you're vulnerable to being corrupted.
16:59And it's spoken about in training.
17:01One of the key factors being a split between officers and that they'll see that and they'll pick up on that.
17:08It was so nice to meet you. Take care.
17:11You too.
17:12All right, thank you.
17:13Thank you very much.
17:14Have a good afternoon, all right?
17:15I really think Rachel was trying to do the right thing in a job.
17:20And by her doing the right thing, it meant she was forced out.
17:23And if that's replicated across other prisons as well, then that creates the perfect environment for corruption, for exploitation and for people who want to use that for things like bringing in substances and making money off of prisoners.
17:43It is the perfect storm.
17:51Clearly, there's this ecosystem whereby you've got prisoners who are sometimes using substances inside prison.
17:59And in order to supply them and make that money, organized crime gangs are using the services of some prison officers that are therefore getting paid, right?
18:10I'm interested in that whole world.
18:13And I've got a contact that's put me in touch with a group of people who are part of that chain.
18:19So, in particular, they're manufacturing spice.
18:23Whenever drugs are being sold, there's money to be made.
18:27What I don't understand is why would you go through all the hassle of selling inside prison?
18:35Why not just do it on the street?
18:40You all right? How's it going?
18:44So, what is happening?
18:47Is that spice?
18:49Yeah, spice liquid.
18:51I can smell it, actually.
18:53So, you've got a little assembly line, a little factory going on here.
18:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:00Is this for a specific contact?
19:02Do you know where it's going to?
19:04Or is it just a constant demand for it?
19:05We have our regulars, but there are new people all the time shouting us for this thing.
19:11It's a big market, there's a lot of money to be made.
19:14Once they get it in, they can charge whatever they want.
19:18If they're the only one with it and people need it, people want to pay whatever price it is.
19:22It's a supply and demand thing?
19:24Yeah.
19:28Videos of people using spice in jail are all over socials.
19:32It's thought to be one of the most used drugs in UK prisons and has been blamed for a rise in violence and prisoner deaths.
19:38The paperwork, I can see it's got text on it. What is the text?
19:56So, it's legal papers. You can't just put blank papers, they're going to look at it and say, what's this?
20:04It needs to have some sort of formality on it, so on there it's got the legal writing.
20:08And so then that'll just bypass the system because they just think, yeah, it's a pile of legal paperwork.
20:13Yeah.
20:15Are the prison authorities just not at a place where they, you know, are they not aware of what's going on?
20:20Of course, but there's so much going on.
20:22It's like, they take a little bit, but at the same time, they might take 10%.
20:28The other 90% is still flooding through every day, they can't get everything.
20:33One sheet alone, wholesale, can be £500 a sheet.
20:39And then how you break it down, that's 10 to 20 grand on that piece of string.
20:45These sheets of spice paper are worth up to ten times more in jail than they are on the street.
20:51And if you've got prison staff on the payroll, it's easy to understand why these gangs believe the potential reward outweighs the risk.
20:59To get this into prison, have you got people working for you?
21:04Of course, but I've even put someone on the phone right now.
21:08I'll send jail right now, I'll tell you the process, I'll tell you everything you need.
21:11Yeah?
21:12Yeah.
21:13Let me give them a call.
21:16Okay.
21:19Yes, mate.
21:20So you're inside right now, you've got your own phone, yeah?
21:23Yeah, yeah.
21:24And no one's got an issue with that?
21:27And in terms of prison officers around you, have you been in a situation where you've,
21:31you know, basically brought them over to your side, corrupted prison officers?
21:34Has that happened for you?
21:48Is he gone?
21:49Yeah, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone.
21:51So you must be, like, part of your supply chain?
21:54Yeah.
21:56How much money are you making?
21:58On a good mark, anything between 80 to 100,000.
22:03When you've got this, you've got the power in it, you know what I mean?
22:07If I've got these 50 sheets on my wing now, everyone's got to come to me.
22:11Everyone's got to fall in order.
22:13So it makes you the king?
22:15Of course, bro.
22:16Just think about that for a second.
22:21If gangs across the country have set up similar supply lines into other prisons,
22:26then potentially they're pulling in hundreds of millions of pounds a year.
22:31That's more cash to corrupt prison staff and more power to keep the business growing.
22:36There's enough people that I've spoken to now who have been really clear that they supply prisons with drugs.
22:49And the story is the same.
22:52Those people are not saying that when they get a new sentence, their lives are going to fall apart
22:56and they're thinking about rehabilitation and a new way of life.
23:00They see it as a business opportunity because they want to supply drugs.
23:03And if they're in the inside, then they can do that.
23:06I mean, one thing that no one is talking about, and if we're really frank about it,
23:10don't really care about our drug users, and particularly drug users inside prison.
23:17But that's an important part of that equation, that none of this would be possible without them.
23:23And there is a human cost to that stuff, so I think it's really important that it's considered.
23:3132 deaths.
23:33What's it going to take?
23:35These families have lost loved ones because you're smuggling jokes into that prison.
23:42Since 2022, 32 inmates have died in this jail.
23:47Five of the 17 fatalities in 2024 were suspected to be drug-related.
23:55Today, families of some of the men who died are staging a protest.
24:00Your failures to stop the spies getting in.
24:02Your staff bringing spies in.
24:04People should not be coming into these places and coming out dead.
24:08And that is what's happening.
24:09And it's happening because of your failures.
24:12Come down and face the public.
24:18It's not good enough here in.
24:20He will be sadly missed.
24:22He had always had a smile on his face.
24:25That doesn't do us justice.
24:27And we're just trying to fight to stop other people going through what?
24:33Our family and everybody else's family going through.
24:37Some people are not drug users going in, but they're drug addicts coming out.
24:42That says if they are lucky to come out.
24:45Mikey was your nephew?
24:46He was, yes.
24:48He was a drug addict.
24:50It drove him to suicide.
24:54And there's nothing a parent can do on the outside.
24:57What I can say is my sister did have a phone call and a text asking for money that Mikey did owe.
25:05Mikey had two debts in there.
25:08He was in debt inside?
25:10He was in debt inside.
25:12Have you any idea about the nature of that debt?
25:15Spice.
25:16It was a drug debt?
25:17Yes.
25:19Did you say it was your sister that got the message?
25:20Yes, my sister's over there.
25:22Oh, is she here?
25:23Yes, I can bring her.
25:24Yeah, I'd like to speak to her if that's all right.
25:27Cat friend.
25:29Are you all right to speak to us?
25:30We're making a documentary.
25:31I've just been hearing about Mikey.
25:32I'm so sorry.
25:34Are you okay?
25:35Are you all right to speak?
25:36Yeah.
25:37No pressure on you if you want to.
25:38Are you okay?
25:39Your sister was just telling me about texts you were getting.
25:43Yeah.
25:44Did you show me the texts?
25:46What?
25:47Yeah, there's one.
25:48Can I read it? Is that all right?
25:49Yeah.
25:50So then they've got a name and the bank details.
25:52Yes.
25:54Have I got to pay you 250 quid you've asked?
25:56Yes.
25:57That was my instruction but I appreciate that you've not heard it from your son yet.
26:01It's just so wild that someone would be so brazen to text you and just say hand off a 250 quid for, you know, a drug debt which shouldn't have occurred in the first place because there's meant to be no drugs in there.
26:14Did you end up paying the 250 quid?
26:16I told you to fuck off.
26:18Excuse my language.
26:19No, that was fine.
26:20Yeah, yeah.
26:21I'm not paying no more.
26:22And I did say to my kid, enough is enough.
26:26I am not paying anymore.
26:28You could stand on your own two feet and I've got to live with that now.
26:32Drugs smuggled inside prisons by some officers appeared to have become the new normal and the devastating impact on the most vulnerable inmates was being documented online.
26:50I wanted to understand why so many officers in the prison system were either bringing in drugs or doing little to stop prisoners using.
27:03Was this a problem with the individuals or a much bigger issue with the system itself?
27:10Do you want to jump in?
27:11Yeah, sure.
27:12How's your day been?
27:13Busy.
27:14Alright, nice to meet you.
27:15You alright?
27:16Yeah.
27:17One person I was hoping might be able to shed some light is Mark Fairhurst, head of the Prison Officers Association.
27:25We've had this morning a member of staff assaulted who's had to go home.
27:30What, just this morning?
27:31Yeah.
27:32This member of staff was in his 60s by the way.
27:34And now we've got an ongoing incident in the jail itself where the prisoners decided to jump on the safety net.
27:40So that brings a grinding halt to absolutely everything until we get them off or he decides to come off.
27:46What, so that's happening right now?
27:47That's happening right now when I'm going into the jail.
27:49Yeah.
27:50I'm in my 34th year.
27:52I'm used to it.
27:53I know what to expect.
27:54You know what you're doing.
27:55I know how it's changed.
27:56It hasn't changed for the better in any way whatsoever, because of the lack of investment from successive governments over the last 20, 30 years.
28:03Mark speaks for thousands of prison officers across the country, so I want his take on why some of them are being corrupted.
28:12Some of the stories I've heard, the entry point might be turn a blind eye to someone vaping.
28:21But then that goes all the way up to, can you actually start being the person that brings contraband in?
28:26I think that's the problem with the recruitment process.
28:29It's not strict enough.
28:30The vetting process is not strict enough.
28:33The training is not fit for purpose.
28:35I think that's where it starts, because back in my day, you did challenge everything, and you had standards, and you had leaders, you had managers on the wing who led the way, and you had experienced staff to guide you.
28:48And I think now that's gone.
28:50The problem with corrupt staff is it affects us all.
28:52As you've seen from that Wandsworth video, the amount of abuse and provocative suggestive language female staff now get from prisoners because of that video is off the scale.
29:04It's an absolute disgrace.
29:06A lot of the conversations that I'm having with people that are serving as prison officers at the moment, they're painting a picture that is really, really bleak.
29:13And so what do you see as the way out? What do you see as the fix?
29:18I would double the amount of staff in every prison, and that way it's very difficult for corrupt staff to operate.
29:26Do you think it's going to happen?
29:28I think if it doesn't, the system will crumble entirely, because more and more people will leave. We're on the brink now.
29:37Mark believes the system is at breaking point, but what he told me next made the situation sound even more bleak.
29:43You are dealing with a co-author prisoner who is more violent. There's more money around. There's more drug dealers around. That's the problem. There's more organised criminal gangs around.
29:54It's easy to get drugs in, and the main way they come in, it's not fight for the staff. Now you just throw them over the wall, or even easier, GPS on a drone, hangs the goods outside the prison room, and you just collect them.
30:10I did some research into what Mark said. And get this, in the last year there were more than 1,700 drone incidents outside prisons in England and Wales.
30:21That works out as more than four a day, and that's a 43% increase on the year before.
30:28What exactly is being done to stop these deliveries that are all over my timeline?
30:35To find out, I wanted to see the process for myself.
30:43The plan tonight is to spend some time with someone that makes the packages of contraband, that then end up in prison.
30:54What I really want to see is the inside of that process. Because I know it's, you know, we might not like this word. Some people might think it legitimises it, but it's an industry.
31:06You know, by this point, I know that this is happening. Enough people have mentioned it. We know that there's contraband getting into prisons.
31:14We know there's drugs and phones and other stuff in prisons. So we know it's happening. So it is an industry. People are getting paid off of it.
31:21And so I think it's valuable, actually, seeing how that works.
31:30How you doing? I'm rubbing. What do I call you?
31:34Bricks. Bricks.
31:37Bricks is putting together a package that will be flown into prison tonight.
31:41This one's just tobacco. Some risers, some charges.
31:46It's a light one, but obviously still, when broken down, right, it's a lot of money in jail.
31:50Thousands of pounds.
31:52This is actually special order. Someone's ordered mushrooms.
31:56Obviously, this is probably what the biggest craze is right now.
32:00It's just like paper.
32:02Is that spice?
32:04Yeah, it's laced, it's spice.
32:06How did you get started in this?
32:09Obviously, I went to jail a few times myself from a young age.
32:12Obviously, you get exposed to all the different avenues of making revenue.
32:17So, obviously, there's risk to reward to everything, so it's just picking risks.
32:22Can you put a figure on how much money you made when you were inside?
32:25Touching six figures and seeing one that made a million in jail.
32:29Now, it's not hard.
32:31It's not what you're doing.
32:32Hang on, did he just say a million quid?
32:35Two men that made a million in jail.
32:38How are these gangs managing to make that much money without getting caught?
32:43So, talk me through what happens when it leaves here.
32:45What is the process?
32:47It goes to my P.E. course, driving me to a prison.
32:52It's thrown into the prison.
32:54You know when it goes over the prison wall, like, how does it physically then get into the hands of the person that wants it?
33:02I mean, you get a flashlight, and you put it on outside your window.
33:07And in the drone pad, they can see which window has the flashlight on.
33:10Well, it all goes well. Yeah, go to someone's window and they'll grab that.
33:13It'll usually be a grabber.
33:15So, they won't even be the person that's paid for the stuff.
33:18Because if they've seen that in the hair, they're going to want to spin that cell in the morning.
33:24So, you're going to want to risk that.
33:26So, usually you've got someone with a spice there, or some form of jug there.
33:31It'll be the grabber.
33:33They'll get their windows smashed out.
33:35So, they can stick their hand out at night and boom, bam, bam.
33:38Are you doing this to a particular schedule? Is someone waiting for you? Is that right?
33:42That's right. That's why we need to wrap this up, because...
33:45Okay, fine.
33:47How much money would you make from that?
33:49Depending on the size, what's been put in that box right now, you could get about if you push it.
33:59Yeah, start rolling now.
34:01Okay, we can cut.
34:06I have no idea where we're going or what prison this is for, but it seems like a big operation with a whole chain of command.
34:17Alright, let's jump in that car, come on.
34:25Alright, so what is your job in this?
34:27I'm just like the fucking bridge in it, like, do you get what I'm saying?
34:30So, are you the kind of connect between...
34:33Ah, you got it right there in one. You get what I'm saying? It's a thing where, fucking...
34:38Like, I know a man from jail, they give me the bird call, and then I pattern it.
34:45So, they're putting, like, a specific order?
34:47A specific order. Obviously, man, if I don't get a call, man will hit me up and say,
34:52this fashbosh, can you pat them boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
34:56And obviously, I give them my fucking rate.
35:01And literally, that's all I do with this thing, you get what I'm saying?
35:04And tonight, then, are you getting this delivered to a particular cell?
35:09It's a man that I fuck with. They've come to me and I'm putting the order for this thing.
35:14The money's already been... The money's already been sorted, so it's just...
35:20Do you know, are they going to be... Is this for their personal use,
35:23or are they going to be dealing it?
35:24No, they're shutting, man.
35:27Where is the drone flying from?
35:37We'll just follow you, yeah? Like, we don't want to...
35:39We're not going to get in the way.
35:46Is that the pilot?
35:50We jump out?
35:57Flying a drone within 400 metres of a prison is against the law.
36:02If caught, these guys could face up to ten years in jail.
36:05With that in mind, it felt nuts that this was all going down in plain sight.
36:11So, I guess when this happens, you just want to be, like, in and out as quickly as you can.
36:14Yeah.
36:18I feel vulnerable right now, but...
36:20Yeah, tell me about it.
36:26Do you ever have a situation where it's not delivered, or there's a problem?
36:32There's been times where, man, I said they've got it,
36:35or it's been...
36:36It's been yapped by the boss.
36:39There's people that you're getting past, like, a hundred,
36:41about a hundred parcels a month.
36:43Like, that's...
36:44I'm not the one doing the whole hundred parcels.
36:46There's many people, like, meeting, you know what I'm saying?
36:48Do you know, for this...
36:49For this package, have you already been paid?
36:51Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:53How much have you been paid for?
36:54Two and a half quid.
36:56Two and a half grand?
36:57Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:58For this one parcel?
36:59Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
37:00And that's just your cut?
37:01Yeah, that's my cut.
37:03Convoy's updated.
37:06Keep up the point.
37:08You know, in a couple of minutes, that is beyond...
37:15It's in the prison now.
37:17Do you know what I mean?
37:18It's entered the system.
37:21The way he did it, it's just...
37:22Everyone, like, looking over their shoulder.
37:23We should let him do this.
37:24We should sit in the car and let him do this thing,
37:26because all of us out here, like, this is mental.
37:28We should let him fight.
37:29Do you get what I'm saying?
37:30If you want to move back to the car, we can move back to the car.
37:31Back to the whip, bro.
37:32Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
37:37If you want to move back to the car, we can move back to the car.
37:52Back to the whip, bro.
37:53You can move back to the whip, bro.
37:56All of us out here, like, this is mental.
37:57We should let him fight.
37:58Do you get what I'm saying?
37:59If you want to move back to the car, we can move back to the car.
38:01It's now 1.29 in the morning.
38:17They've just done one delivery.
38:19He's pretty clear he's got another one to do tonight.
38:22And that's any given night in London.
38:24And he was really clear at the start of the night.
38:26He said there isn't a prison in the country
38:27that they can't get stuff into.
38:31It's a lot bigger than a few people that are doing this
38:33as a little enterprise.
38:37I've now been working on this story for a year.
38:40What started off being about a sex tape that went viral
38:43had pulled me into a world of drugs, organised crime and coercion,
38:47where corrupt prison officers were cogs in a much bigger machine.
38:52Everybody has to be paid.
38:55With millions of pounds at stake for the officers and inmates
38:58who've made smuggling contraband their business.
39:00I had questions about what lengths they'd go to
39:07to protect their profits.
39:15And then I came across this.
39:18I've been hearing these stories about firebombings linked to prison guards
39:26in the car park of prisons.
39:31And so I'm heading to the main prison in the middle of Edinburgh.
39:37I know this is one of the places where a prison guard's car was firebombed.
39:47This is the car park.
39:50So someone in one of these houses must have seen something.
39:54So I think it probably is worth asking around.
39:56Kind of obvious, but no-one was going to invite me in for a cup of tea
40:07to chat about cars being set on fire in their neighbourhood.
40:10The locals were terrified of becoming a target.
40:14But one woman did agree to speak to me off camera.
40:17She's really clear that they're scared of reprisals.
40:23She says that they spoke to some prison staff who told her off the record
40:27that they'd seen people come on the prison CCTV.
40:32And these people came and targeted the car.
40:34And that's when they worked out that it was a targeted attack.
40:37And the car wasn't just a random car.
40:39It isn't, you know, someone just parked there.
40:40It's one of the staff.
40:42It's one of the prison staff.
40:44And then she told me about the fire.
40:46And she said the night it happened,
40:49her family group chat just popped off
40:52because she filmed this.
40:58That is the prison guard's car on fire.
41:04Can you hear her?
41:05She just says, this is terrifying.
41:10And it wasn't just happening in Edinburgh.
41:17I soon saw reports of similar incidents all over the UK.
41:21The firebombs were a warning,
41:22a signal that criminals were prepared to attack prison staff
41:26anywhere at any time.
41:30With concerns reaching unprecedented levels,
41:33a new story hit the headlines
41:35that seemed to confirm many people's worst fears.
41:40Elias Morgan, a former prisoner at HMP Altcourse,
41:47stood accused of murdering Lenny Scott,
41:50a man who'd worked as an officer at the jail.
41:54This is a article that says,
41:55former prison guard was shot dead in an act of retaliation
41:59after he exposed an illicit relationship
42:02between a convict and a female officer.
42:03But the police have put out a bunch of evidence now
42:11because it's gone to trial.
42:13So this is the phone call.
42:14This is Lenny Scott calling the police.
42:17Hello, Minnside Police.
42:19Hi, I'm an officer at HMP Altcourse.
42:22I've just been informed that there's been a car
42:26that's all time in the house all weekend.
42:27Right, OK.
42:28So what's your name, please?
42:29Lenny Scott.
42:30And who's made the threat?
42:32Elias Morgan.
42:34I've never done anything for him.
42:36Just in fear for my family life at all.
42:40Before this call,
42:42Morgan had offered Lenny £1,500
42:44to turn a blind eye to his contraband phone,
42:47but Lenny refused to be corrupted.
42:51He said he's got lads everywhere,
42:53so he says he's described my vehicle
42:55and he's described my house
42:56and what my girlfriend and twin boys look like.
43:00He's got everything to it to you.
43:02He knows it's described.
43:04He had everything.
43:06He's so obviously asking for help.
43:11It's not as if he kept this to himself.
43:12And there's one point in there,
43:14he says it's not about me.
43:15I can handle whatever.
43:18But, you know,
43:19he's worried about the rest of the family.
43:22And then not so long after that,
43:25he ends up dead.
43:29I think this is a...
43:31It's a different league
43:33to everything else we've been looking at.
43:34The contraband phone that Lenny seized
43:38didn't just incriminate Morgan.
43:40It led to the discovery of a relationship
43:43between the inmate
43:44and a female prison officer
43:46named Sarah Williams.
43:47An iPhone he had.
43:49And he reckons it's going to incriminate him,
43:52so that's why he's going to these lads.
43:59An illicit relationship,
44:01a contraband phone,
44:02and now allegations of a murder.
44:12The trial was still underway,
44:14so that was my next stop.
44:17Some pretty horrific evidence.
44:20Lenny Scott's dad,
44:21so Lenny Scott being the prison officer,
44:23and his dad tells this story
44:25about a conversation he had
44:26with his son one day
44:27about being threatened.
44:30So after he'd confiscated this phone,
44:32that was found in his cell,
44:34Elias Morgan apparently said to him,
44:37I'll bide my time,
44:39but I promise I'll get you.
44:40What's making this kind of gun sign
44:42with his fingers?
44:44I'll bide my time,
44:45but I promise I'll get you.
44:47And then Lenny goes on to explain.
44:50He said to his dad,
44:51that was my job.
44:52I wasn't doing anything other
44:54than what my job demanded.
44:55Now, the fact of the matter is,
44:58he's now dead.
45:01And so whatever happens
45:03at this trial,
45:05it paints a pretty horrific picture
45:07of what's going on in the prison system.
45:10whilst the trial of Lenny's alleged killer
45:20continued in Preston,
45:22I headed back to London
45:23to try and tie up
45:24the story I'd been chasing
45:25for over a year.
45:27Linda D'Souza-Abru
45:28was out of prison,
45:30so I had one last chance
45:31to see if she'd answer my questions
45:33about whether or not
45:34the sex tape
45:35was part of an attempted coercion plot.
45:37I'll see you in a bit.
45:44So I think she was home,
45:47which is something,
45:48but she wouldn't speak to me.
45:49She didn't get in front of me.
45:50The other half did.
45:52And he said,
45:53look, she can't speak to you.
45:55And so then we went down this path of,
45:57OK, she can't speak to me.
45:58What does that mean?
45:59No, no, she can't speak to you.
46:00OK, she can't speak to me
46:01because she's not allowed to
46:03or because she doesn't want to.
46:05No, she's not allowed to.
46:06Oh, so it's legal.
46:08Yeah, she can't speak to you legally.
46:09So then I said,
46:11look, I know how license conditions work.
46:14If it's a condition of her license
46:15that she can't speak to the press,
46:17then that's going to be over at some point.
46:19That's going to expire.
46:20When is that expiring?
46:21I don't know.
46:24So there's part of me
46:25that kind of feels
46:27that that ship might have sailed.
46:35There's part of me that also thinks
46:36unless you were the kind of person
46:38that actually wanted notoriety,
46:42which is what I thought.
46:43I think it's what a lot of people thought
46:44when they first saw that,
46:46the video.
46:48Unless you caught that kind of attention,
46:51I understand why
46:54an average person would want to draw a line under this
46:56and just never speak about it again.
46:57But the flip side of that is,
47:06I think, given that she was in public office,
47:09given that she's been convicted,
47:13I also think she's got a responsibility.
47:14200 miles up the motorway in Preston,
47:23the trial of Lenny Scott's alleged killer
47:25was in its ninth week.
47:27That's because Lenny Scott was a former prison officer.
47:30Four years ago,
47:31he found a mobile phone in a cell.
47:34That showed a sexual relationship
47:36between Elias Morgan and another prison officer.
47:39He was offered money to keep...
47:41We're in Preston.
47:44It is the last phase of this murder trial.
47:49When this started
47:51and there was all these very tabloid headlines
47:54involving a prison officer and a sex tape,
47:58I think a lot of people just thought,
48:00ah, isn't this funny?
48:01And this is very salacious and silly.
48:04I don't think anyone really thought
48:06about the thread that runs from something like that,
48:09which you can describe as prison officer corruption
48:12and something like this,
48:14which is a murder trial.
48:18But there's definitely a thread there.
48:23The outcome of this trial
48:25had the potential to send shockwaves
48:27across the prison service.
48:30The jury's been sent out,
48:32so there's going to be a verdict imminently,
48:34whether it takes a few hours or a few days.
48:37And Lenny, the prison officer that was killed,
48:43I did speak to his mum.
48:45And, er, I mean, I don't want to jinx it,
48:48but she says she does want to talk.
48:50She says it's dependent on what happens with the verdict.
48:53Of course, no-one knows what is going to happen.
48:56But she says she thinks it's really important
48:58and she does want to talk.
49:02It's not about one individual, is it?
49:04It's about an entire family like that being ripped apart.
49:11As the jury deliberated,
49:13I thought back to the months I'd spent
49:15speaking to prison officers,
49:17some of them complicit in corruption.
49:19You made a lot of money.
49:20Yeah, and I spent a lot of money
49:22because you can't keep up with the amount you make.
49:24Others chose to turn a blind eye
49:28because they'd lost faith in the system.
49:30I'm not trying to hear it.
49:30I'm not trying to get involved.
49:32My job, go in, do what I need to do.
49:34If you walk past the store and you smell a little bit of...
49:36I couldn't care.
49:38And now, details of this case suggested
49:41that doing the right thing could be fatal.
49:43It was an act of revenge on a prison officer
49:46who was doing his job.
49:48Today, Elias Morgan from Liverpool
49:50was convicted by a jury
49:51who took just over five hours
49:53to decide he was guilty of murder.
50:00Two days after the verdict,
50:02I got a call.
50:05Lenny's parents were ready to talk.
50:08Clear.
50:08For safety reasons,
50:10we're meeting at a neutral location.
50:13What I want, really,
50:14is just to understand
50:17what Lenny went through.
50:20Because this didn't happen overnight.
50:23It happened over a period of years, actually.
50:25It was a long, long period.
50:28At the trial,
50:29the court was told
50:30that Lenny had confided in his parents
50:32after receiving threats from Morgan.
50:34So you wanted...
50:35It was just black coffee?
50:37Yes, thank you.
50:37And that's got one sugar in it.
50:39I wanted to know
50:40what Lenny had told them
50:41and understand his experience
50:43as a prison officer
50:44at HMP Alt Course.
50:46You feeling OK?
50:46Yeah.
50:47OK.
50:48So, as I said,
50:49just at your own pace.
50:50Yeah.
50:51And just,
50:52if you want a moment,
50:53you take a moment.
50:54Yeah.
50:56Can you remember
50:56the first time
50:57he ever mentioned
50:58that he was interested
51:00in going into the prison service?
51:01Yeah.
51:02What was the conversation?
51:03Well, he told me
51:04he'd seen job advertised
51:06and he was applying for it.
51:09He said
51:09it was the type of job
51:11where he thought
51:12he could make a difference.
51:14I'll be able to help
51:15with rehabilitation,
51:17et cetera, et cetera.
51:18So he thought
51:18there was
51:19an obvious public good
51:21that he could do with it?
51:22Oh, yes.
51:23Very much so.
51:24You know,
51:24once he started that job,
51:26can you remember
51:26what his first few weeks
51:27were like?
51:27Was he excited?
51:29He loved it, yeah.
51:30He really liked it.
51:31All his training.
51:33Thought it was everything
51:34he wanted it to be.
51:35Did he ever speak to you
51:36about seeing things,
51:37hearing things,
51:37you know,
51:38about corruption?
51:39How did he feel
51:40that was being dealt with?
51:41There did come a change
51:43at all course for him.
51:45He would just say
51:46there's corrupt prison officers
51:47that are sort of
51:49giving in to the prisoners'
51:51demands of whatever
51:52that may be.
51:53He didn't go into detail.
51:55He said to me
51:56at some point
51:57that it feels like
51:59I'm being a pest
52:02to management.
52:03It's as if
52:04they want me just to go,
52:05oh, just leave well alone.
52:07But Lenny couldn't.
52:09He just couldn't do that
52:10because he wanted
52:10to do his job properly.
52:12Can you remember
52:13the first time
52:13he told you
52:14about any threats?
52:15He spoke to me
52:16but he always put
52:19a humorous spin
52:21on everything, Lenny.
52:22He never wanted
52:23to worry anybody.
52:24What was the response
52:25when he spoke
52:26to his work?
52:28What did they do
52:29or say?
52:30He did feel like
52:31he wasn't supported
52:32by management.
52:34He said,
52:35oh, they don't think
52:36it's, you know,
52:38serious,
52:39it's deemed
52:39as low risk.
52:43Four years after
52:44the threats,
52:45Lenny was no longer
52:46working in the prison
52:47service
52:48and the inmate
52:49who threatened him
52:50had been released.
52:52On the evening
52:53of February 8th,
52:552024,
52:56Lenny has been
52:57training at the gym.
52:59By the time
53:00he leaves,
53:01Morgan has been
53:02waiting for him
53:03for almost an hour.
53:09As Lenny stands
53:10talking to someone
53:11in the car park,
53:12Morgan approaches.
53:17He shoots Lenny
53:19six times
53:20at close range.
53:21You know the kind
53:31of initial shock
53:34and I imagine,
53:36you know,
53:36I've never gone
53:37through anything
53:37like that,
53:38but I imagine
53:38there's just
53:39the absolute
53:40devastation
53:42of losing someone.
53:43illness,
53:43wasn't it?
53:44He's just numb.
53:47He did nothing wrong.
53:49There's a saying,
53:51if you live by the sword,
53:52you die by the sword.
53:54All he did
53:55was his job.
53:59Why do that?
54:00Why have ruined
54:01so much?
54:03Just to prove
54:04a point
54:05of retaliation
54:06for him.
54:07Remember,
54:12the chain of events
54:13that led up
54:14to this moment
54:14began at HMP
54:16alt course.
54:17Analysis
54:18of the contraband
54:19phone that Lenny
54:19seized from
54:20Elias Morgan
54:21revealed a relationship
54:22between the inmate
54:23and a female prison guard
54:25named Sarah Williams.
54:28How do you process
54:29that,
54:30that it started
54:30with someone
54:31having a relationship
54:33with a prisoner
54:34and it ended,
54:35you know,
54:36here?
54:36That's why
54:37my problems
54:38with alt course
54:39are that
54:40why was she allowed
54:42to have relationships
54:44with three prisoners?
54:46Why was she allowed
54:47that even after
54:48people told them
54:50that she was corrupt
54:51that was she allowed
54:52to carry on?
54:52Carry on.
54:53So,
54:54they're my questions
54:55I have for them.
54:57I would like
54:58to ask alt course
54:59a number of questions
55:00around it.
55:01Once you've got
55:02a corrupt officer,
55:03it puts every other
55:04member of staff
55:05at risk.
55:05At risk, yeah.
55:06And that's what
55:07he was against
55:08completely.
55:10I mean,
55:10at the end of the day,
55:11if Lenny
55:12had turned a blind eye,
55:14we wouldn't be
55:15having this conversation.
55:17But that wouldn't
55:18have been Lenny.
55:19that just wasn't him.
55:24It just wasn't him.
55:27I'm really grateful
55:28for you
55:28both speaking to me.
55:30I really am.
55:30I know this is not...
55:31I'm sorry.
55:31You do not need to be
55:33sorry at all, honestly.
55:34Not for one second.
55:36I know this is not
55:36a nice conversation
55:37to have.
55:38So I'm really,
55:39really grateful.
55:40Thank you so much
55:41for speaking to me.
55:42Elias Morgan,
55:53that's the man
55:54that murdered Lenny.
55:55He's been sentenced
55:56to 45 years.
55:58And you can think
55:59about that
56:00as some kind
56:01of neat ending
56:02to this story,
56:03but of course
56:03it's not.
56:05If you think about
56:05Lenny's family,
56:06or actually if you
56:07think about anyone
56:07that works
56:08in the prison system,
56:10it's kind of
56:12impossible to process
56:13that someone got murdered
56:14just for doing their job.
56:16They're never going
56:17to get over that.
56:20And whether it's
56:21Linda's sex tape,
56:23or it's Lenny's story,
56:24or it's all those
56:24inappropriate relationships
56:26I've been hearing about,
56:27or the contraband
56:28that's going into prisons,
56:30it really feels
56:31that at every single level
56:32there's examples
56:33of corruption
56:34in the prison system.
56:36So if that's going
56:36to change,
56:38then you have
56:38to acknowledge
56:39this isn't about
56:40a few individuals.
56:41This is about
56:42a system
56:43that right now
56:45isn't working.
56:47And the people
56:48that have to acknowledge
56:49that are the people
56:50with power,
56:51some talking about
56:51people at the top.
56:53They have to be willing
56:54to at least have
56:54that conversation.
56:56And at the moment,
56:58that isn't happening.
57:00And that's a problem.
57:06The people
57:19that have a chance
57:20is that
57:20a man
57:23who
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