Coventry duo jailed for HMP Parc drone smuggling attempt

Two men who drove through the night from Coventry to Bridgend with a drone in their car have been jailed for attempting to smuggle cannabis and mobile phones into HMP Parc.

Benjamin Coleman, 37, and Ibrahim Hussain, 43, arrived at the prison just after 2.30am on September 5 last year, hoping to deliver their illicit cargo under cover of darkness. Hussain stayed behind the wheel whilst Coleman attempted to pilot the drone carrying a bag containing two phones and 66 grams of cannabis onto the prison grounds.

Their plan quickly unravelled when the drone was picked up by the prison’s detection system and police were alerted. Coleman fled back to the vehicle and told Hussain he had been “seen”, and the pair attempted to make their escape. Officers later stopped their car on the M4, discovering the drone and its intended payload on the back seat.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the contraband would have been worth more than £2,000 behind bars. Whilst the cannabis had a street value of just £190, prosecutor Pamela Kaiga explained it would have fetched between £790 and £1,900 inside the prison. The two mobile phones would have commanded a prison value of £1,000 to £1,500.

During police interviews, Hussain claimed drug dealers had offered him cocaine and £220 to collect someone, drive to Wales and back. He insisted he hadn’t met Coleman before that night.

Both men, from Broomfield Place and Station Street East in Coventry respectively, admitted attempting to convey a listed article into prison. Coleman brought nine previous convictions to court, including possession with intent to supply cannabis and a previous conviction for smuggling items into prison. Hussain had no criminal record.

David Pinell, defending Coleman, told the court his client had been held responsible by dealers for losing a significant quantity of drugs and was ordered to carry out the drone delivery as compensation. Coleman has been waiting for sentencing so he can apply for a prison transfer closer to his family, who cannot afford to visit him.

Hywel Davies, representing Hussain, explained his client cares for his partner and has two employed adult children who would be unable to look after her if he were imprisoned. The court heard Hussain had struggled with drug addiction but has remained clean since being remanded in custody.

Judge Lucy Crowther handed Coleman a 27-month prison sentence, whilst Hussain received nine months.

The case follows another drone smuggling attempt at HMP Parc just last month, when Kyle Morris and Nicholas Mann were jailed after a package of illicit substances was recovered from the prison grounds.

A damning inspection report released last year highlighted how failures to tackle an “alarming” flow of drugs into the Bridgend prison had contributed to “a spate of tragic deaths”. Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor found that standards had “declined significantly” since private security firm G4S won a 10-year contract to operate the facility in 2022, pointing to serious problems including cell windows that could be easily opened from inside, allowing prisoners to retrieve items dropped by drones.

The 2024 inspection revealed that nearly a third of random drug tests came back positive, 57% of inmates reported it was easy to obtain illegal drugs, and 34% had developed a drug or alcohol problem since arriving at the prison, which houses approximately 1,700 prisoners.