Man jailed over HMP Liverpool drone drug-drop attempt

Image source, Merseyside Police

Image caption, Anthony Cheeney crashed the drone outside HMP Liverpool

A man who tried to fly a drone into a prison carrying drugs, mobile phones and sim cards has been jailed.

Anthony Cheeney's attempts failed when he crashed the drone close to HMP Liverpool on the night of 17 August 2017.

Merseyside Police officers attended and recovered items including Class A and B drugs.

Cheeney, 29, of Peter Road in Walton, was handed a five-year sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.

Image source, Merseyside Police

Image caption, Cheeney attached a number of illicit items to the drone

He had originally pleaded not guilty to conveying prohibited articles into a prison but changed his plea to guilty.

Det Con Chris Cook said: "This and previous sentences should send a message to those who involve themselves in this kind of behaviour that they run the risk of being jailed for a significant time for criminal activity, which comes at high risk with low reward.

"The security of prisons is of paramount importance and any attempts to breach this security will be treated extremely seriously."