Lancashire prison officer ends up behind bars after his £95k stash was found in a routine drugs test

Meadows was jailed for more than five years.

Phillip Meadows was sentenced to five years and four months in prison on Tuesday.

The 31 year old, of Carnarvon Road, Birkdale, failed a routine staff drug search while he was working as a prison officer at HMP Liverpool.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how specially trained sniffer dogs identified drugs on Meadows, before a more thorough search was carried out.

A search of his car by North West Regional Organised Crime Unit and Merseyside police found a total of 11 tobacco pouches.

Forensic examination found that they also contained heroin and cannabis - with a total estimated value of £95,000.

Meadows was charged with possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs, and pleaded guilty in court.

Stock photo: sniffer dogs alerted police to the presence of drugs on Meadows.

He was sentenced to five years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday.

Detective Inspector Dawn Hampson, from NWROCU Prison Corruption unit said: “This is yet another example of the fantastic collaborative work between NWROCU and the Prison service.

“The vast majority of prison staff do a fantastic job in often challenging circumstances, and it is those honest, hard-working members of staff whose reputation people like Meadows risk damaging.

“I hope the jailing of Meadows sends a strong message to those prison staff who are considering taking contraband into prison, and assures the wider public that we will not tolerate this corruption.

“The public rightly expect that our prisons will be staffed by people who uphold the highest ethical and moral standards, and the rooting out of staff who fall short of that is a key priory for NWROCU.

“As a prison officer, Meadows would have known first-hand the dangers drugs have in prisons, and that he would be putting his colleagues at risk of serious assault and prisoners at risk of possible death by supplying illicit drugs.