Mother jailed after smuggling drugs for gang into prison where she worked

Ellen Manning
Updated ·3 min read
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Meghan Woodham smuggled drugs into the prison where she worked as a healthcare assistant. (Reach)
Meghan Woodham smuggled drugs into the prison where she worked as a healthcare assistant. (Reach)

A mother who smuggled drugs for a gang into the prison where she worked and let her home be used as a 'safe-house' has been jailed.

Megan Woodham burst into tears as she was sentenced to six years in prison for her role in a cocaine and ketamine trafficking ring.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 30-year-old took illicit substances into HMP Risley in Warrington where she was employed as a healthcare assistant and handed them over to Daniel Doran, who was an inmate at the prison between December 2021 and February 2022.

Daniel Doran coordinated the movement of drugs from his prison cell at HMP Risley. (Reach)
Daniel Doran coordinated the movement of drugs from his prison cell at HMP Risley. (Reach)

David Watson, prosecuting, said the pair – along with co-defendants Kelsey Higgins and John Butler – were "involved in the supply of a very large quantity of high purity cocaine".

The court heard Doran – whose mother Valerie Doran has also been found guilty of money laundering – used a mobile phone to organise "the moving of cocaine from location to location" from his cell "under the noses of authorities".

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Woodham was said to have "formed some sort of relationship" with the 32-year-old and would "willingly assist him by allowing her home address to be used for the storage of parcels" of drugs.

The drugs ring was uncovered after Higgins, described as a close associate of Doran’s cousin Butler, was arrested after police who stopped him found 10kg of cocaine in his car with an estimated street value of up to a million pounds.

Kelsey Higgins
The drugs ring was uncovered after police found Kelsey Higgins with 10kg of cocaine when they stopped his car. (Reach)

The seizure sparked an investigation by Merseyside Police, which uncovered Butler's communications with his co-conspirators.

It also revealed a "separate agreement" between Woodham and Doran, which involved her taking delivery of packages of ketamine which she then smuggled into the prison and handed over to him.

Doran, of Kirkby, has been jailed for 15 years after he was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine and admitted conspiracy to supply ketamine.

Higgins, of Orrell Park, was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years after being convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

John Butler
John Butler, Doran's cousin, was jailed for eight years in February last year after admitting possession of cocaine with intent to supply. (Reach)

Woodham, of Pemberton, burst into tears after being jailed for six years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine.

The Liverpool Echo revealed that the mother had been posting on social media throughout the court process, claiming "the justice system is on its neck" after she was convicted by the jury.

Butler, of Tower Hill, was jailed for eight years in February last year after admitting possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Valerie Doran, 54, is due to be sentenced later this month after being found guilty of money laundering.