TEN people were sentenced yesterday after an investigation into supplying prohibited items into prisons.

Seven men and two women appeared at Birmingham Crown Court between Monday and Wednesday this week, to be sentenced in connection with the two-year investigation.

In July 2015, police officers saw a package being thrown from a car towards a gate at the back of HMP Hewell in Worcestershire.

The package was found to contain cannabis, crack cocaine and a psychoactive substance, and contained the fingerprints of three men: Mervyn Foster, Artaf Hussain and Terry Leach.

From this incident, over the following 16 months, 15 drone drops and three 'throw-overs' were intercepted at prisons including HMP Hewell in Redditch, HMP Featherstone in Wolverhampton, HMP Birmingham and HMP Stoke Heath in Shropshire, and were all found to be linked to the conspiracy.

The offences included the simple throwing of items into prisons, to the sophisticated use of drones to fly items, including drugs, weapons and other prohibited articles in.

As the investigation progressed, mobile phone data, drone data and camera footage was analysed, which identified those flying the drones into the prisons and provided a link to two inmates at HMP Hewell, Craig Hickenbottom and John Hickenbottom who were receiving the packages on the inside and distributing them. Eleven individuals were subsequently arrested.

The drugs seized from the 15 intercepted drone drops had a potential prison value of £370,000, but further drone analysis proved there had been an additional 34 flights to prisons across the UK, including HMP Perth in Scotland and HMP Doncaster during this time. The contents of those flights are unknown.

Following close liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service, nine men and two women were charged with offences relating to the investigation and ten of them later pleaded guilty.

Following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court in November, the eleventh defendant, Yvonne Hay, was found guilty of three offences relating to the investigation.

The following nine defendants appeared at Birmingham Crown Court this week for sentencing:

• Mervyn Foster, aged 38 from High Street, Princes End, Tipton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list a prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances, conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list c prohibited articles into/out of a prison and conspiracy to throw an article or substance into a prison. He was sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment.

• Craig Hickenbottom, aged 35 formerly of HMP Hewell, Redditch, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list a prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances, conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list c prohibited articles into/out of a prison and conspiracy to throw an article or substance into a prison. He was sentenced to seven years and two months imprisonment.

• John Hickenbottom, aged 50 formerly of HMP Hewell, Redditch, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list a prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances, conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list c prohibited articles into/out of a prison and conspiracy to throw an article or substance into a prison. He was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment.

• John Quinn, aged 36 from Swancroft Road, Tipton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list a prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances, conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into/out of a prison and conspiracy to throw an article or substance into a prison. He was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment.

• Lisa Hodgetts, aged 33 from Lye Cross Road, Tividale, Oldbury, pleaded guilty to concealing, transferring or converting the proceeds of crime. She was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

• Terry Leach, aged 19 from Wednesbury Oak Road, Tipton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list a prohibited articles into/out of a prison and conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into/out of a prison. He was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months.

• Sanjay Patel, aged 38 of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to possession of an electronic communication device whilst in custody. He was sentenced to two months imprisonment.

• Ashley Rollinson aged 22 from Highgate Road, Dudley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into a prison. He was sentenced to 11 months in prison.

• Yvonne Hay, aged 42 from Bloxwich Road, Walsall, was found guilty of conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list a prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances and conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into/out of a prison. She was found not guilty of conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list c prohibited articles into/out of a prison. She was sentenced to two years and four months imprisonment.

Two defendants did not appear at court: • Francis Ward, aged 46 from Bloxwich Road, Walsall, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list a prohibited articles into/out of a prison, conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances and conspiracy to convey/throw/bring list b prohibited articles into/out of a prison. He was sentenced to two years and four months in prison in his absence, after failing to appear at court. A warrant has been issued for his arrest and enquiries to locate him are underway with West Midlands Police.

• Artaf Hussain aged 31 from Slater Street, Tipton, pleaded guilty to being concerned in supplying a controlled drug to another. He failed to appear at court and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Enquiries to locate him are underway with West Midlands Police.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Andy Farmer said: "This was a painstaking and complicated investigation undertaken by a small, dedicated team of detectives from West Mercia Police, assisted by the Regional Organised Crime Unit.

"The prison system should be a safe environment for people to live and work in and a place of reform, this type of activity jeopardises the good order of the prisons and leads to difficult working environments for staff.

"The defendants in this case are responsible for large scale supply of prohibited items into prisons which includes drugs, weapons, phones and tools which could be used to facilitate an escape or to conceal illicit items. The sentences reflect the serious nature of the offending by this group and should serve as a deterrent for anyone considering embarking on a similar venture."

Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah said: "It is clear this gang ran a nationwide drugs operation, using sophisticated technology to transport substances into our prisons and heap misery onto the offenders they had in their clutches.

"We have invested significant resources into boosting our prison intelligence units and I am delighted that their painstaking work - operating jointly with colleagues from law enforcement agencies - is having such a positive impact.

"Criminals who involve themselves in this type of behaviour should be left in no doubt that we are continuously developing our means of investigation and will stop at nothing to bring them to justice. This case is clear evidence of the desire our staff have to win the war on drugs in prisons."

Senior crown prosecutor Eran Cutliffe said: "This was a highly organised gang who worked in an extremely coordinated manner in order to import prohibited items into prisons.

"They used various techniques, including drones, to smuggle contraband such as drugs, tools and mobile phones. The financial value of these goods was far greater in prison than in the outside world.

"The gang members sought to profit from the misery caused by prison drug use and they must now face the consequences of their actions."