A drug user has been jailed for seven years after he threw socks stuffed with knives, drugs, mobile phones, chargers and SIM cards over the wall of Nottingham Prison.

Jamie Woodward was today beginning the lengthy sentence after Nottingham Crown Court heard he had been "recruited to do this".

But one senior police officer said: “What may have seemed like an easy few quid to him, could have resulted in someone else’s death".

Prison officers made the discovery of the socks when they were making a routine check of perimeter walls of the Sherwood jail just after 10am on April 18.

Custody image of Jamie Woodward
Custody image of Jamie Woodward

Four socks made it over the wall and a fifth fell into a "no man's land", explained Alan Murphy, prosecuting, between two security fences.

Inside were 36 wraps of heroin - which in prison potentially could have been worth £3,600 - 125 grams of cannabis, LSD infused into five sheets of A4 paper and two knives.

Thirteen sheets of A4 had been infused with Mamba which would have produced ten to 12 £30 deals.

"In prison the Mamba could have been worth between £3,900 and £4,600," said Mr Murphy.

The haul included 10 grams of synthetic cannabinoid, with a potential value of £1,000, as well as 132 grams of Mamba, worth between £4,500 and £6,500.

There were 17 mobile phones, eight SIM cards, nine mobile phone chargers, memory cards, multiple packets of cigarette papers and tobacco.

Woodward, who was identified from CCTV, pleaded guilty to 11 charges of conveying items into HMP Nottingham, and one charge of possessing cannabis on his arrest.

He was going to be paid £400 for successful delivery of the drugs.

One phone message found showed reference to that being a "nice payday".

HMP Nottingham in Sherwood
HMP Nottingham in Sherwood

Judge Steven Coupland told Woodward, of Wheatacre Road, Clifton, the total value of the drugs inside prison was over £10,000.

And he said the person Woodward had been in conversation with was likely in prison making arrangements with him.

"Each of those items sent in, whether it was the drugs, the phones or knives in isolation of one another would have resulted in a significant prison sentence," said the judge.

"I take into account you had a longstanding use of drugs yourself".

He stressed that anyone who chooses or is persuaded to convey banned items into prison is in a serious position.

And "only a significant custodial sentence is appropriate to reinforce to others what happens if you become involved in taking drugs, phones and weapons into prison".

The seven year sentence was passed on three of the drugs charges and the remainder of the sentences were concurrent.

Woodward, 23, had 12 convictions for 20 offences. One was for conveying Mamba into prison. He was fined because Mamba was not a controlled drug at the time.

Kevin Waddingham, mitigating, said: "The defendant was recruited to do this".

Woodward has a personality disorder and a "strong indication of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder", said Mr Waddingham.

"He is far from the mastermind of any criminal enterprise, and I say that with respect to him".

He said a "drugs debt background is still there" and "those who supply those drugs know who they can recruit" and "it was very stupid of him to do it".

"He bitterly regrets what he has done".

Detective Sergeant Charlie Nicholls , of East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said in a statement afterwards: “I cannot overstate the seriousness of Jamie Woodard’s actions.

"To give some of society’s most violent individuals access to weapons, is tantamount to assisting any subsequent violence committed with them. Had the knives got into the wrong hands and then been used in an attack against an inmate or member of prison staff he would have been facing much longer in jail.

“What may have seemed like an easy few quid to him, could have resulted in someone else’s death.

“We work very hard with the Prison Service to keep weapons, drugs and phones out of prisons. If you see any suspicious activity around the perimeter of a prison, or have any information about plots to smuggle illicit goods inside, call us.”  

Assistant Chief Constable Kate Meynell , of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Throwing knives into a prison is an incredibly dangerous thing to do and Woodward will have known perfectly well that they would have gone on to be used for violence or to cause fear of violence.

"Nottinghamshire Police treats knife crime extremely seriously and, through Operation Scorpion, we take a very proactive approach to tackling the issue and will seek to put people who carry or use knives before the courts at the earliest opportunity."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We cannot allow our prisons to become factories for making bad people worse, which is why the Prime Minister has committed an extra £100 million to crack down on crime behind bars.

“This cash will help stop the drugs, weapons and the mobile phones coming in, so we can safeguard victims, protect staff, cut violence and make our prisons properly equipped to reform and rehabilitate.”