2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Sean McPolin)
A guard who smuggled drugs and mobile phones into a jail inside a DVD player has avoided prison. Jake Belfield, 31, was working at HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey when he handed four phones, chargers, SIM cards and steroids to inmate Matt Parsons. Parsons, 34, was at the prison after being jailed for 15 years in 2016 for using explosives to blow up cash machines and steal £40,000.
Belfield, of Elysium Park Close in Whitfield, Dover , admitted two charges of misconduct in a public office – a crime which can carry a life prison sentence – while Parsons pleaded guilty to possessing the banned items, as well as causing a sound transmission from inside the category B men's prison. On Wednesday, prosecutor David Smith told the court how on June 30, 2020, Belfield arrived on Delta wing of the Sheppey prison with a black Nike holdall, and was seen on CCTV moving from the office to the restroom. When he came out, he had a plastic bag with a “rectangular shape”, which he took to Echo wing and handed over to Parsons in his cell.
A search of the cell later that day found a Blu-ray DVD player which had the phones, chargers and SIM cards hidden inside. Liquid, which turned out to be testosterone and nandrolene, was also found inside a hair and nail clipper set. Belfield was arrested at work and his home was later searched.
There officers found a bag with MDMA inside, as well as a burner phone and £600 cash. The court heard how the burner phone, as well as Belfield’s iPhone, had received calls from a Samsung which was found in Parsons’ cell. Parsons’ defence barrister, Trevor Wright, said he claimed he had only used the phone to keep in contact with his loved ones.
Mr Smith explained Belfield had been reported to senior prison staff after making a suspicious comment to a fellow guard. The court heard an officer had made a joke about Belfield’s size, to which he said he had considered taking steroids. When told they were expensive, Belfield replied he would “need to bring in another parcel”.
The prosecutor also said that on May 16, 2020, Parsons had arranged for Belfield to meet one of his associates at Park Farm industrial estate in Folkestone. Belfield’s defence barrister, Laura Stockdale, explained how Belfield had come into difficult circumstances in the months before the crimes. She detailed how the prison guard had split from his partner, who was also working at HMP Swaleside, and was left to pay the mortgage they had previously shared.
Belfield, who has a child of his own and is “effectively a father” to his new partner’s young child, was of previous good character, the court heard. Ms Stockdale said the break-up, working in the same prison with his ex, and financial difficulties led to a sense of severe isolation for Belfield. Recorder Nicola Williams said both defendants had shown real remorse and had faced significant delays in the case getting to court.
Addressing Parsons, who is now working full-time as a scaffolder, she said: “If you think I think you had those phones for your partner, you must think I am a fool and I am not that.” She handed him an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He must also undertake 35 rest and rehabilitation (RAR) days and complete 300 hours of unpaid work.
She told Belfield he had “committed a massively gross breach of trust” and shown prisoners he didn’t have a “high level of integrity”. He was handed a 24-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was told to undertake 15 RAR days and complete 300 hours of unpaid work.
Both men must pay £1,000 in costs, as well as a £156 victim surcharge each, and the confiscated £600 cash will be given to a charity of the court’s choosing..
