Staff at HMP Styal recalled how Kerri Pegg would turn up to work wearing gold hot pants
06:29, 09 Apr 2025Updated 08:21, 09 Apr 2025
Police mugshot of Kerri Pegg(Image: CPS)
Petit, blonde and attractive, Kerri Pegg turned quite a few heads during her eight years in the prison service.
From the moment she joined as a graduate entrant, colleagues and managers alike could hardly fail to notice the glamorous rising star in their midst.
Her rise was remarkable, being promoted to governor in just six years.
And Pegg’s time at HMP Styal women’s prison in Cheshire was remarkable for another reason. Staff there recalled how she would turn up in gold hot pants.
Married at 26 and divorced four years later after her husband’s building and renovations firm went bust, she switched from a career in the Probation Service to the Prison Service in 2012, working at prisons including Risley, Liverpool and Styal.
Described by peers as a ‘rising star’ of the prison service, by April 2018 she was a governor at HMP Kirkham.
Pegg, originally from Bramhall in Stockport, was also noticed by the inmates in the male prisons she worked. Among them was crime boss Anthony Saunderson, who was nearing the end of 10-year sentence for drugs offences when he met her at HMP Kirkham.
Their relationship is the reason, after many nights as a member of staff, last night Pegg spent her first evening behind bars as a convicted prisoner.
The 42-year-old is awaiting an inevitable jail sentence after a jury took just two hours and 43 minutes to convict her of two counts of misconduct in a public office and one count of possession of criminal property following a three-week trial.
Saunderson, nicknamed Jesse Pinkman after the infamous fictional meth dealer in TV’s Breaking Bad, is also back behind bars, serving a 35 year sentence handed down in 2022.
Startling details of their relationship emerged during a trial at Preston Crown Court, including how Saunderson gave her a £12,000 black Mercedes coupe which he had allegedly paid for with 34 kilos of amphetamines.
The gift meant Pegg, 42, was able to swap her humble Honda Jazz for the sleek motor. And despite her relatively modest wage, she was able to afford luxuries like Jimmy Choo shoes and Chanel necklaces.
The Mercedes gifted to Kerri Pegg by a drug dealer(Image: CPS)
Divorcee Pegg, described in court as ‘petite, blonde and bubbly’, signed off on temporary release for Saunderson while she was a governor at HMP Kirkham, in Lancashire.
During her trial, it emerged that Saunderson had developed and delivered a programme titled BADD (Beating Alcohol and Drug Dependency) for inmates at several jails, while at the time being a major drug dealer, running an amphetamines factory.
Pegg claimed her contact with Saunderson was due to his involvement in the BADD programme. But even members of his gang grumbled that their boss was spending too much time with her and away from his wife and ‘work’.
He had been one of Merseyside’s most wanted fugitives for his part in importing £19m of cocaine in shipments of corned beef from Argentina.
From the start of her time at the jail there were concerns about Pegg being inappropriately close to Saunderson, with the two often spending time in her office with the door closed.
She told jurors there were ‘cultural issues’ at the jail and clashed with bosses over her ‘progressive’ and ‘hands-on’ open-door policy with prisoners.
In October 2018, Saunderson put in a release on temporary licence (ROTL) request which Pegg signed off, though she did not have the authority to do so.
Anthony Saunderson(Image: handout)
Saunderson was released from Kirkham in May 2019 and within two months, while still on licence, was involved in another massive drug conspiracy.
Pegg’s trial heard he continued contact with prisons in the BADD programme and was also still close to Pegg, who by now was the regional official co-ordinating drug strategy in six prisons in the North West.
Saunderson and his gang were producing and supplying drugs on an industrial scale from a lab at a premises on the England/Wales border and a storage unit in Aintree, Merseyside. He was jailed for 35 years at Liverpool Crown Court in August 2022 after law enforcement agencies cracked the encrypted mobile communications platform Encrochat, a notorious ‘WhatsApp for criminals’.
It revealed Saunderson’s drug dealing and also his relationship with Pegg. Police raided her apartment in Orrell, Wigan, in November 2020. The Mercedes paid for by Saunderson was parked outside.
They discovered designer clothes, handbags and jewellery, and found Pegg living way beyond her means, buying Jimmy Choo shoes and Chanel necklaces.
Detectives discovered that despite her £3,000-a-month income, Pegg was deep in debt and had not declared three County Court judgments which amounted to misconduct, as debts make officials vulnerable to corruption. Her four credit cards were ‘maxed out’ and she had 6p in her savings account.
Detectives also found a toothbrush and a pair of Hugo Boss flip flops both carrying Saunderson’s DNA.
Kerri Pegg
Andrew Alty, defending, in his closing speech to the jury, claimed Pegg had been, ‘green and stupid’ and a naive and gullible person who was manipulated by Saunderson. Pegg tearfully told jurors she had been ‘incredibly stupid’ but did not think she had done anything wrong.
The jurors were very quick to come to a different conclusion.
Barbara-Louise Webster, prosecuting, told the trial Pegg had a promising future, but added: “Anthony Saunderson was her downfall.”
Judge Graham Knowles told Pegg a prison term was ‘inevitable’ although he initially bailed the defendant to the court building while a sentencing date was arranged. After a short adjournment a bail application for Pegg was refused by Judge Knowles, who remanded her into custody for sentence on Monday.
Outside court, Tarryn McCaffrey, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Kerri Pegg’s conduct fell far short of what might be expected from any professional within the Prison Service, let alone one of such a senior grade as prison governor.
Keri Pegg
“She was clearly involved in an inappropriate relationship with Saunderson after he was released and the evidence points to this going back further, to a time when he was in jail.
“This relationship, and the fact that Pegg failed to disclose her debts to her employers, amount to a gross breach of trust and are therefore extremely damaging to public confidence.”
Poverty and homeless charity The Brick, based in Wigan, where Pegg was given a job as an operations manager after resigning from the Prison Service, said in a statement: “Kerri Pegg has been employed by The Brick since March 2021.
“We became aware of her arrest in May 2023, at which time we took immediate and professional HR and safeguarding advice to guide our response. We carefully considered all available options, including dismissal, suspension, and working with restrictions, while awaiting the outcome of the ongoing police investigation and subsequent trial.
“The decision was made by The Brick’s board to allow Kerri to continue her role under substantial restrictions.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by today’s verdict. As an organisation, our focus remains on supporting the most vulnerable in our community, and we remain committed to serving the needs of the homeless and those facing hardship in Wigan and Leigh.”