Prison smuggler jailed after drone carrying drugs and mobile phones crashes at HMP Whitemoor in March

A man has been jailed for his part in a plot to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into HMP Whitemoor after a drone carrying the goods crashed.

Simon Woodall, 32, was linked to the plot after his DNA was found on the drone’s cargo, including drugs and mobile phones worth more than £200,000.

The crashed drone was found on November 13, 2023, by a dog handler conducting patrols at the prison near March.

The package it was carrying, which weighed more than 6kg, contained items including cannabis, 41 smart phones, 20 pieces of paper laced with spice and four pots containing steroid tablets.

A vehicle linked to Woodall was seen in the area and was scrapped in the days following the incident.

This attempt followed a previous incident in August 2023 where a man driving a van was stopped by police on the A1 near Catterick in North Yorkshire.

The man had the address for HMP Durham in a sat nav app and a drone in the back of the vehicle, along with a package containing cannabis, tobacco and steroids.

Woodall’s fingerprints were found on the drone, and a phone number linked to him discovered in the man’s contact list.

At about 4am on February 12, last year, police received a call from HMP The Mount, in Hertfordshire, after Woodall was spotted by CCTV operators acting suspiciously in a wooded area near the prison.

When officers arrived, he tried to dispose of his mobile phone and was arrested.

Woodall, of Yorke Avenue, Brierley Hill, West Midlands, admitted two counts of conspiring to convey prohibited items into a prison.

On Monday, at Peterborough Crown Court he was jailed for 30 months.

DC Tom Adams said: “We are working hard with prison staff to tackle the issue of smuggling, and we take the matter extremely seriously.

“This was a large package containing drugs and mobile phones that could have caused significant issues within the prison and been used in criminality.

“I am pleased the attempt was unsuccessful and Woodall has now found himself behind bars.”