A gang of four from the Black Country including a serving prison custody officer conspired to smuggle cannabis and tobacco into HMP Birmingham
15:40, 05 Dec 2025Updated 15:56, 05 Dec 2025
The prison smuggling gang included serving prison custody officer Carla Moskot-Bretell (l), her partner Darren Oakes (centre) and Patricia Bucknall (r) who paid social visits to Oakes
A corrupt prison officer worked with three others – including her prisoner boyfriend – to smuggle items into Birmingham’s prison.
Carla Moskot-Brettell, a prison custody officer at HMP Hewell, near Redditch in Worcestershire, led co-ordinated efforts to smuggle items including cannabis and tobacco into HMP Birmingham.
Moskot-Brettell, 35, conspired with her partner, Darren Oakes, who was a serving prisoner within the Winson Green lock-up, to get the illicit items behind bars.
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The couple worked with Louise Docker and Patricia Bucknell, also from the Black Country, to prepare and wrap cannabis in cling film.
It was then placed inside a surgical glove that Moskot-Brettell had obtained from the prison she worked at.
The packages were laced with spices in an effort to confuse the scent of search dogs deployed at the prison.
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And they were then smuggled into the jail by Bucknell during social visits with Oakes.
Once inside the prison, the packages were placed inside food orders from the social visits canteen.
They were then ingested by Oakes, who would later make himself vomit in his cell to bring the packages back up so he could supply them to his fellow inmates.
The plot was uncovered following an investigation by West Midlands Police ’s ROCU (Regional Organised Crime Unit) into the behaviour of Moskot-Brettell.
The prison smuggling gang included serving prison custody officer Carla Moskot-Bretell (l), her partner Darren Oakes (centre) and Patricia Bucknall (r) who paid social visits to Oakes
All four pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle items into prison – “conspiracy to bring/throw/convey List A Prohibited articles into or out of a prison” – and were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court last Friday (November 28).
Moskot-Bretell of Stour Hill, Quarry Bank in Brierley Hill was jailed for three years and nine months
Darren Oakes, 47, was jailed for three years and nine months
Louise Docker of Birmingham Street, Halesowen, was jailed for two years and three months. There is no custody image of Docker.
And Patricia Bucknell, 51, of Clent View Road, Cradley, was jailed for two years and three months.
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Detective Constable Adam McHugh, from the West Midlands Regional Prison Intelligence Unit, said: “This joint investigation with the HMPPS Counter Corruption Unit demonstrates our shared commitment to uphold the values and conduct that the public expect of prison officers.
“Moskot-Brettell abused her position as a prison officer to participate in criminality that saw contraband smuggled into a prison, the very institution she worked for.
“The behaviour of Moskot-Brettell clearly erodes public trust and along with her co-conspirators, now faces time behind bars.”