Dental nurse smuggled phone to inmate she was in a relationship with at prison near Wolverhampton
A dental nurse has been locked up after she smuggled a mobile phone into a prison near Wolverhampton for an inmate she was in a relationship with.
Julia Derbyshire, aged 43, was sentenced on Friday (August 8) having pleaded guilty to conveying a prohibited article into Featherstone Prison in 2023, as well as possession of diamorphine and cannabis. She had been sent to the prison to help run clinics while employed by Pearly Whites Dental based in Brownhills.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that the matter came to light after a phone was found in the cell occupied by inmate Simon Collins, who was serving a nine-year term for previous matters.
Sentencing Derbyshire, Judge Simon Ward said: "Anyone who takes articles into prison risks going to prison themselves. You were in a relationship with Collins.
"This was reinforced by the fact that you refused to to make a statement about what happened."
Peter Grice, prosecuting, said checks of the phone revealed an unsent message to Derbyshire's phone. He said the phones and SIM cards were seized and further inquiries showed there had been contact between the pair including a six-minute phone call and a SMS text.
