Group sentenced following conspiracy to smuggle drugs and phones into prisons

The leader of an organised crime group, alongside his partner, a prison officer and another person, have all been sentenced after a plot to smuggle drugs and phones into prison was foiled.

Officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) spent years investigating the activities of Ryan Carden, Jak Robinson, Natalie Parker and Shannon Cawley, resulting in the group being sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday, 3 September.

Three phones were found in Carden’s possession between February and May 2019, when he was an inmate at HMP Elmley.

The court heard that during this period, the 40-year-old, of no fixed abode, engineered a plan to bring phones and the psychoactive drug Spice into prisons.

He worked with his partner, Natalie Parker to do this, arranging for letters infused with the drug to be delivered into prisons, disguised as legal mail. Parker’s bank account was also used to send and receive payments in relation to this activity.

The SEROCU investigation also uncovered that Carden bought a phone from inmate whose partner was Cawley, and paid her for the phone.

Additionally, the court also heard that on 23 June 2020, prison officers conducted a search of Carden’s room, where a mobile phone was seized.

When the contents of the phone were downloaded, they showed communication between Carden and Jak Robinson, who was a serving prison officer at the time. Messages between the paid showed a conspiracy to bring 16 phones into HMP High Down, the prison at which Robinson worked, between January and March 2020.

The offenders all pleaded guilty to all the charges against them.

They were sentenced as follows:

• Carden, previously of Caffin Gardens, Burgess Hill, was sentenced to a total of five years and ten months’ imprisonment. He pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing a class B article in prison (mobile phones), one count of conspiracy to supply the class B drug Spice in two prisons, one count of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to convey a mobile phone into prison.
• Parker, aged 33, previously of Caffin Gardens, Burgess Hill, was sentenced to a total of one year and six months’ imprisonment. She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to supply Spice at two prisons and one count of money laundering.
• Robinson, aged 31, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to one year and three months’ imprisonment. He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to convey a mobile phone into prison.
• Cawley, aged 27, of Enstone Road, Enfield, was given an eight month prison sentence, suspended for one year, and ordered to carry out an 80 hour community order. She pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering.

Carden, Parker and Cawley were charged with the offences in April and June 2021. Carden was then charged along with Robinson for the additional offences in February 2023.

Detective Constable Ian Smith, of SEROCU, who investigated the crimes committed by Carden, Parker and Cawley, said: “Ryan Carden and Natalie Parker worked together over a number of years to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into three prison establishments.

“Carden is a notorious prisoner and a scourge on the prison system. He seduced Parker into this activity from within prison, albeit she was a willing participant.

“The sentences received in this case should act as a warning to anyone considering conveying prohibited articles into prison.”

Detective Sergeant Joshua Webber, formerly of SEROCU, who investigated Carden’s crimes with Robinson, said: “Jak Robinson and Ryan Carden worked together over a number of months to facilitate phones being taken into HMP High Down.

“Robinson showed himself to be a corrupt officer and any incidents like this will be taken seriously and investigated by the police, who will work alongside our colleagues in the prison service.

“Corruption has no place in society and I hope the sentences passed down reflect how seriously this is taken.”

DC Smith and DS Webber were each given a Judge’s Commendation for their efforts in this investigation.

Ryan Carden

Natalie Parker

Jak Robinson

Notes to Editors

The prisons involved in this investigation are HMP High Down, HMP Wormwood Scrubs and HMP Elmley.