Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jan 2005
Source: Yorkshire Post (UK)
Copyright: 2005 Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  http://yorkshirepost.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2239
Author: Alexandra Wood
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

PRISON DRUGS WORKER JAILED FOR SMUGGLING HEROIN IN BRA

A Prison drugs worker was jailed yesterday for hiding "a massive
amount" of heroin in her bra and smuggling it into inmates she was
supposed to help wean off drugs.

Deborah Acklam, 41, took drugs into Full Sutton jail, near York, after
falling for the flattery of an inmate serving time for blackmail, Hull
Crown Court heard.

Sixteen-stone Acklam was found with 62.83g of the Class A drug, worth
A?16,000 pounds, stuffed into her 40EE underwear.

Acklam, whose job was to help addicted inmates with acupuncture,
agreed to smuggle the drugs after forming a relationship with the
prisoner. He was serving eight years of a twelve year sentence for
blackmail using a firearm.

After his release he arranged for her to deliver drugs to another
inmate, promising to pay her A?250 a time, but she never got the money.

Shazia Karim, prosecuting, said police stopped Acklam as she tried to
smuggle in a huge packet of heroin last May 25.

"When officers approached the defendant she was quite frank with
police when she handed to them two packages from her bra," said Miss
Karim.

"She said to them 'I think it is cannabis, it's a relief that I have
been found out.'

She apologised knowing she had breached a position of trust and said
she had taken what she thought was cannabis to the jail twice previously.

Following her arrest, police confiscated her mobile phone and
intercepted text messages from the prisoner.

Acklam, from Langtoft, in East Yorkshire, handed over a further
package of cannabis for her to take to the jail.

She admitted intent to supply heroin and two counts of attempting to
supply cannabis to prisoners at the high security prison.

Sentencing her to serve four years and nine months in prison, Recorder
Jonathan Rose said she had betrayed the critical rule of a
professional: "Don't get too close."

The judge said: "Your role should have been whiter and cleaner than
every other employee in the prison because it was your job to help
these men get off drugs. Instead you added to that pain."

Anil Murray, mitigating, said unmarried Acklam was a vulnerable woman
who was taken in.

He told the court she had known the inmate for two years and he had
expressed love for her. "She was clearly being manipulated," he said.

However Recorder Rose said while he believed there was no financial
motive, Acklam had sufficient intelligence to get herself out of the
situation by telling someone what was happening.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin