Corby man jailed over plot to smuggle 'spice' into prisons in fake legal letters

A Corby man who plotted to to beat prison post rules and flood jails with ‘spice’ disguised as legal mail has been locked up.

Shay Bradshaw took a leading role in an enterprise which saw fake solicitors’ letters laced with the synthetic drug and sent to inmates at 26 UK prisons.

But he was caught out when members of the Prison Service’s serious and organised crime unit recognised the forgeries and a police investigation soon halted the operation, which spanned a three-year period between July 2017 and May 2020.

On Tuesday (August 22) at Lincoln Crown Court the 30-year-old, of Ollis Close, was jailed for six years and nine months.

The court heard the investigation initially led to the home of 41-year-old Rachael Stewart of Stirling Close, Grantham.

Officers discovered incriminating evidence at her address including a significant quantity of spice and items required to produce paper laced with the drug.

They also found bogus ink stamps for solicitors’ firms and a fake “Rule 39” stamp. Legal documents – known as “Rule 39 mail” – carry extra privileges compared to regular post sent to prisons.

A laptop found in a bedroom held evidence of how the materials were produced before being sent to high security prisons across the country.

Stewart’s son, Kian Stewart, was also arrested, while further investigations led to the arrest of Bradshaw, who was once jailed over a terrifying armed robbery at a Corby petrol station.

The three were each later charged with and admitted conspiracy to convey list A articles into prisons, and conspiracy to supply class B drugs.

Rachael Stewart was jailed for three years and four months. She was described as having played a significant, bordering on leading, role in the plot.

Kian Stewart, aged 22 and also of Stirling Close, Grantham, was given a 12-month community order with 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

It is estimated that 26 category A, B and C prisons at locations across the UK were affected by the activities of the criminal trio.

Detective Chief Superintendent Carl Galvin, head of the Yorkshire and Humber regional organised crime unit, welcomed the sentences.

He said: “This was a sophisticated attempt to disguise class B drugs as legitimate privileged legal documents purporting to be from solicitors.

“The aim was to bypass prison security safeguarding techniques and flood the wings of a number of prisons with psychoactive substances that would typically be bought and sold for prices that were grossly inflated from what they were worth in open society.

“Prisons should be places of safety where inmates can get help and support in respect of addiction. We will not stand for this type of abuse and the Yorkshire and the Humber regional organised crime unit continues to work alongside partner agencies to tackle the blight of drugs on our communities.”

The current price of psychoactive substances ranges from £130 to £1,000 for an A4 sheet of impregnated paper. Smaller pieces of impregnated paper, credit card sized, can range from £40 to £100.As a result of the investigation, the Prison Service has introduced new procedures to prevent the exploitation of Rule 39 letters.