The pathetic excuses given when members of a gang who smuggled 'goodie bags' of drugs into prison were rumbled

A member of a gang which smuggled 'goodie bags' of drugs and contraband worth up to £300,000 into a jail told police he was 'just out for a jog' when he was collared with a drone near the prison walls.

Kane Ashcroft and Daniel Young were spotted by police hurriedly bundling a done into a bag in a park near HMP Liverpool in Walton, Merseyside. Their arrest led to a conspiracy which saw drugs, tobacco and mobile phones delivered to serving inmates being brought down.

Dozens of similar previous trips, which could have potentially seen illicit goods worth hundreds of thousands of pounds make their way into HMP Liverpool, were revealed as a result.

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Their activities were uncovered as part of Operation Bakewell, an investigation into the smuggling of contraband into the category B facility via the use of drones, the Liverpool Echo reports

Gerald Baxter, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the category B facility as "the most targeted prison in the country for drone incursions", with the flights being arranged by "highly organised and tenacious gangs" making "staggering" profits and resulting in "nothing short of disastrous" consequences.

One such delivery on December 20, 2021, was thwarted when a device was seen flying near to Maguire Avenue in Bootle. Officers then witnessed Ashcroft and Young crouching down in a nearby playing field and placing the drone into a bag.

The former ran off at the sight of the officers, with his accomplice nonchalantly walking away. But both were arrested and the bag in question was found beside a tree with the drone, a controller with a mobile phone attached, a quantity of tobacco and three packages of