Woman used drone to smuggle phones and cash items into prison

A woman who used a drone to smuggle mobile phones and cannabis into HMP Peterborough prison has been sentenced.

Nicola Rigitha, 23, of Morland Court, Peterborough, used the technology to fly a package to a prisoner on 25 June 2021.

Prison officers were alerted to the drone flying within the grounds and witnessed it approach a third-floor window where the occupant took it through a hole in his window.

Inside his cell they found a football sock containing 10 miniature mobile phones, seven packs of cigarette papers, six packs of tobacco, cannabis and a Zanco mobile phone.

They traced his phone calls from the prison and arrested Rigitha at her home. Inside they found a box for the Zanco mobile phone.

The cannabis was thought to have a prison value of £5,800 and the tobacco worth £3,000.

At Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (13 October), Rigitha, was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to conspiring to convey list A and B prohibited articles into prison. She must also carry out 150 hours unpaid work.

PC Floyd Matthews, who investigated, said: “Conveying prohibited items into a prison will not be tolerated. We work closely with colleagues at HMP Peterborough and we will continue to prevent further incidents of this nature taking place.”