by These are the faces of a care worker and the two inmates she smuggled drugs into and called into prison for after she got ‘overwhelmed’.
Amy Portwood and Adrienne Juniper, from Leigh, was “infatuated” with convicted Manchester robbers Darren McAndrew and Philip Phythian and they brought contraband into the prison where they worked. They also exchanged a string of “sexually explicit” texts and WhatsApp messages with their boyfriend behind bars, who allegedly tattooed them on their bodies.
Liverpool Crown Court heard last week that Pythian was serving a six-year sentence for robbery and possession of a bladed article in a public place at HMP Risley in Warrington in late 2021, while McAndrew was facing an extended sentence. 12 years for robbery. and heavy vehicle construction, reports the Liverpool Echo.
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Philip Astbury, prosecuting, described how Portwood and Juniper were “regular visitors” to the category C site as care workers for contractor Care Plus and were responsible for looking after a disabled prisoner known as John Kelly. Instead, however, they were involved in “romantic relationships” with Phythian and McAndrew.
Portwood’s phone was shown to have exchanged 1,134 phone calls with the other over the course of a month, as well as 294 text messages. The pair also shared more than 1,000 WhatsApp messages between November 2021 and January 2022, including images that were later deleted from her device. Mr Astbury said some of these messages were “sexually explicit in their content” while others referred to “small phones” and “sniff”.
Meanwhile, Juniper and McAndrew called each other 60 times and exchanged 1,598 texts, some of which were again “sexual in nature”. These included the prisoner sending topless pictures of himself to staff.
When the two mothers attended work on the morning of January 7, 2022, a drug detection dog was said to be “interested” in Juniper and jumped on her. However she “managed this” when she said she was wearing perfume and was allowed to continue into the prison.
The 35-year-old and Portwood later visited Kelly’s cell, where Phythian and McAndrew “loitered in the vicinity” before speaking to the two employees. The women were seen on CCTV taking their patient to the shower in his wheelchair, which had a “misplaced” blue heater on the back.
This garment was searched when they returned and there were five separate packages full of illegal items. Among the contents were a quantity of tobacco, a mobile phone, two USB sticks, cannabis resin worth up to £2,880 within the prison estate, herbal cannabis worth up to £1,850, £600 worth of cocaine, £200 worth of crack cocaine and £240 worth of heroin.
A search of Juniper’s home revealed £3,530 in cash, as well as around £500 worth of Turkish lira. A further £348 was seized from a drawer in Portwood’s bedroom.
The court heard that the 41-year-old – of Hughes Avenue in Orford, Warrington – had the letter “P” on his forearm in an apparent reference to Phythian. Similarly, Juniper had a tattoo of the letter “D” on one of his fingers.
‘She foolishly got involved in what she thought was a relationship’
Juniper, of St Helens Road in Leith, has no previous convictions. Philip Tully, defending, told the court: “They are both children with complex needs and, if she were to receive an immediate custodial sentence, it is likely to have a significant impact on the children and their care and well-being .
“She worked as a carer for eight or nine months with that company before this offense was committed without any issues whatsoever. In fact, she was very thoughtful.
“When Miss Portwood got into a relationship with one co-defendant, she told her that someone had a romantic interest in her. She was foolishly involved in what she thought was a relationship with him.
“She had difficulties in her long-term relationship and the approach felt unfair to her. She agreed to bring tobacco and, gradually, other things into the prison as a result.
“This action was completely out of character. She is someone with a good work ethic and, despite difficulties in her personal life, is employed and providing for her family.
“She is someone who has issues with her mental health. She comes from a supportive and close-knit family and has expressed shame and embarrassment at her actions and the pain she has caused everyone.”
Portwood has one conviction for unrelated offenses in 2003, for which she was fined. Appearing for her, Gareth Bellis said she was “blinded by love and affection” and subjected to “some form of grooming”.
But he said: “She went into this with her eyes open. She has clearly shown genuine remorse.
“Your honor will consider how she took part in these offences. One could say, but in the case of the others, she would not have been involved.”
Portwood and Juniper pleaded guilty to bringing prohibited articles into prison and possession with intent to supply heroin, cocaine, cannabis, cannabis resin and steroids. The first person nodded and became positive because she was locked up for 22 months.
Juniper was given a 22-month prison sentence suspended for two years, plus 160 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days. She burst into tears as she was spared an immediate prison term.
‘He was feeling quite lonely’
McAndrew and Phythian, who both have no fixed address but are from Manchester, admitted bringing prohibited goods into prison and possessing a prohibited item in prison. Appearing via video link to HMP Forest Bank, they were both given a further three years and nine months on Thursday.
Phythian has 18 previous convictions for 36 offenses – including receiving 10 years for robbery, wounding with intent and aggravated burglary in 2009. Gemma Maxwell, defending, said the 33-year-old served a year in custody after revocation. on licence, adding: “The defendant admittedly has a poor record, but no drug content.”
“He has taken steps to rehabilitate himself. He has a reliable job within the prison.”
McAndrew’s criminal record shows 10 entries for 22 offences. These include robberies in 2000, 2003 and 2016 and wounding with intent and possession of a prohibited firearm in 2008.
40-year-old barrister Milena Bennett said: “He was serving a long prison sentence under covid restrictions. He was feeling quite lonely as there were no visits from his family.
“Instead of targeting or grooming the co-defendant, he will say they were both attracted to each other and denies any intimidation or coercion. He first started asking for tobacco because he was missing in custody.
“That went on to asking her to give him cannabis for personal use. Unfortunately, because others noticed the relationship between the two of them, he was asked to ask for other items to be brought into the prison, and he did that.
“He is very remorseful for his actions. Shortly after committing the offences, he was released on licence. He was back with his partner and children. It all came crashing down when he was returned to custody it.
“He started offending at a very young age. He was living a very dysfunctional life, coming from a dysfunctional family and getting in with the wrong crowd.
“This has resulted in him spending more time in custody than in the community. He has made efforts to start rehabilitating himself and has a job as a cleaner in custody.”
‘You were both extremely naive’
Sentencing, Judge Garrett Byrne said: “In my view Mr Phythian and Mr McAndrew took the opportunity, and there was some degree of manipulation or persuasion. You, Portwood and Juniper, abused it your position of trust as care workers providing care to prisoners.
“You were both extremely naive, to say the least. You knew very well that these things were not allowed into the prison.
“But you did it anyway, no doubt after letting your infatuation with your fellow defendants override your decision-making. These items are valuable currency within the prison system and can be used as instruments of extortion or power.”
Turning to Juniper, the judge added: “In this case, there are two children who are considered to be extremely vulnerable and have complex needs. For those reasons, I believe that Ms Juniper’s case can be distinguished and I feel in there to suspend the term of imprisonment.”
