Prison officer accused of smuggling drugs into jail claimed he was threatened at home
27.02.2024 - 18:03
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A prison officer accused of smuggling drugs within a jail told police that he had been threatened outside his home. A routine check at HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale on Christmas Eve revealed an illegal consignment of alcohol, various drugs, tobacco, phones, syringes and needles.
Prison officer Richard Goss, 45, is on trial in connection with the discovery. Liverpool Crown Court heard how the items were found hidden in bags beneath clothing in one of two dryers in the prison. Mr Goss, from Middleton, claimed he had been acting under duress after he and his family had been threatened.
He denies six charges involving three of conveying articles into prison involving alcohol, mobile phones, components and a hard drive, syringes and needles intended them to come into the possession of a prisoner. The other three charges are supplying cannabis, testosterone and oxymetholene.
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John Richards, prosecuting, said that Goss, of Esmount Drive, Middleton, began working with the prison service in April 2015 and initially underwent ten week intensive training. He moved to HMP Buckley Hall in December that year.
On the evening of Christmas Eve 2019 following the lockdown of then inmates, prison officers searched the laundry room of ‘B’ wing and found nothing suspicious. The next morning another officer searched it again before releasing the prisoners onto the wings, finding two plastic drinks bottles and three Tetra Pak cartons within one of the two dryers.
“He thought it was alcohol and was he was about to empty in the sink when he found they contained an array of drugs and prohibited articles and the bottles contained alcohol," Mr Richards said. "There were 18 wraps of