SIX Bradford criminals who played a part in the largest ever drug and weapon prison smuggling conspiracy in the UK have been sentenced.

Central to the plot was mental health nurse Amy Hatfield, who started a relationship with “heavily convicted” inmate Joseph Whittingham, from Bradford, at HMP Lindholme, near Doncaster, before flooding the jail with contraband.

Hatfield, 38, of HMP New Hall, Wakefield, was jailed for more than 10 years. Another 15 defendants were jailed for a total of almost 80 years.

Hatfield and her co-conspirators smuggled over £1 million worth of drugs, knives and mobile phones into the grounds of the jail.

Among those sentenced yesterday were six Bradford defendants.

Aneeze Williamson, 30, originally from the Bradford district, whose address was given as HMP Leeds, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and conspiracy to convey phones into prison. He was sentenced to five years and five months in prison.

Williamson’s girlfriend Kora Haley, 30, of Holme Lane, off Tong Street, Bradford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, conspiracy to convey phones into prison and money laundering. She was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

Williamson’s sister Natalie Williamson, 35, of West Royd Drive, Shipley, pleaded guilty to money laundering and being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs. She was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Joseph Whittingham, 35, of HMP Leeds, originally from Bradford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, conspiracy to convey drugs into prison, conspiracy to convey a knife into prison and conspiracy to convey phones into prison. He has today been sentenced to total of eleven years and four months in prison.

Joseph Whittingham's wife Lucy Whittingham, 37, from Bradford, pleaded guilty to money laundering. She has today been handed a two year suspended sentence and a community order.

Joseph Whittingham's dad Paul Whittingham, 59, of Halifax Road, Bradford, was found guilty of money laundering at trial. However, Whittingham was found not guilty of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, conspiracy to convey drugs into prison, and conspiracy to convey phones into prison. Today, he was handed a twenty month suspended sentence and a community order in relation to the money laundering offence.

Sheffield Crown Court heard six of the defendants were serving prisoners who co-ordinated the smuggling network and sold the prohibited items to other inmates, while others were partners, parents and siblings who were recruited to smuggle the items into the jail and launder the proceeds through their bank accounts.

Hatfield, who was employed as a mental health support worker at the prison, became “infatuated” with inmate Joseph Whittingham in 2018 and the pair started a sexual relationship, before he recruited her to take part in the conspiracy, it was said.

Whittingham, 35, had a “leading role” in the operation and also recruited his wife Lucy and father Paul to receive payments for the contraband.

Judge Watson said he “exploited” Hatfield’s feelings for him and arranged for drugs and other banned items to be delivered to her.

The judge told Hatfield: “When (Whittingham) first expressed feelings for you, instead of reporting it to your supervisors as you were trained to do, you embraced it.”

The relationship escalated to “sexual activity within the prison and the exchanging of images”, the court heard.

Judge Watson told Hatfield the relationship was “a significant breach of trust” and outlined how she “abused your position to convey prohibited items” into the prison “for financial gain”.

“It must have been clear to you the impact that increased drug use was having, and yet you continued to flood HMP Lindholme with drugs and phones. You even brought in a knife,” the judge said.

Hatfield was stopped and searched as she arrived for work in October 2019 by police officers who found she was carrying £1 million of contraband including MDMA, bags of ketamine, spice paper, vials of testosterone, anabolic steroids, mobile phones, phone accessories, tobacco and other prescription drugs. She also had four Ribena bottles with her, which contained around two litres of liquid spice.

A subsequent search of the mental health unit where she worked found a further litre of spice.

In the months and years after her arrest, officers discovered a “highly complex criminal network” operating inside HMP Lindholme.

Judge Watson said the number of incidents in the prison where inmates were found under the influence of drugs “significantly increased” during Hatfield’s time there, and went down after her arrest, although the conspiracy did continue after she left.

The court heard that in September 2019 an inmate died after taking spice, which toxicology tests found matched a batch of the drug recovered from Hatfield upon her arrest.

Another inmate who was sold spice by Jordan Needham, another of the conspirators, spent 10 days in a coma and lost the use of his legs and full sight in one of his eyes, it was said.

The judge said drug dealing in prison was “an instrument of exploitation, oppression and power” and “undermined discipline and good order” as well as having an “impact on the health of those who take drugs”.

The court heard the conspiracy involved the supply of class A drugs MDMA and heroin, class B drugs including spice and cannabis, and mobile phones and charging cables, all of which “sold for considerably more than they would in the outside world”.