He went into work on Christmas Eve... and his life fell apart

A prison officer smuggled drugs, needles and mobile phones into a Greater Manchester prison - and then desperately tried to pin the blame on an innocent colleague.

Richard Goss, 45, has finally admitted responsibility for bringing in a stash of contraband which was found in the laundry room at HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale on Christmas Day.

A routine check revealed an illegal consignment of alcohol, various drugs, tobacco, phones, syringes and needles. The items were found hidden in bags beneath clothing in a tumble dryer.

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Suspicion fell on Goss, who was on night duty that evening. But when he was told he would be investigated he claimed he had been acting under duress.

However prosecutors said that was a "desperate and provable lie", and that he was in fact messaging a woman he'd met on dating site 'Plenty of Fish' at the time he claimed he'd been threatened outside his home.

A trial got underway at Liverpool Crown Court got underway in February. The jury were discharged after being told 'new evidence has arisen.' Goss was due to face a re-trial.

However on Tuesday (October 29), he changed his plea and admitted the six charges he faced - three counts of supplying drugs to another and three counts of conveying an article into prison. He was jailed for four years and two months in prison by a judge at Manchester Crown Court.

His trial was previously told that Goss, of Esmount Drive, Middleton, began working with the prison service in April 2015 and initially underwent ten week intensive training. He then moved to HMP Buckley Hall, a Category C men's prison in the Buckley area of Rochdale, north of the town centre, in December that year.

On the evening of Christmas Eve 2019 following the lockdown of then-inmates, prison officers searched the laundry room of ‘B’ wing and found nothing suspicious, jurors at Liverpool Crown Court heard.

The next morning another officer searched it again before releasing the prisoners onto the wings, finding two plastic drinks bottles and three Tetra Pak cartons within one of the two dryers.

Inside were found 18 wraps of brown resin, one wrap of green herbal cannabis, 30 wraps of tobacco, three litres of alcohol, a quantity of steroids both in tablet and liquid form, three iPhones and two charging leads, some security tools, syringes, needles and some Rizla papers.

An investigation was launched with CCTV being checked, which showed Goss was on duty Christmas Eve into Christmas Day and had attended ‘B’ wing about 9.45 pm while delivering post across the prison.

Goss was seen carrying a rucksack and plastic bag from his car, and was seen carrying a plastic bag and rucksack, when he entered the laundry room. He was suspended on December 30, 2019. As the news was delivered to him, he said words to the effect of 'my family’s under threat.'

He was arrested and interviewed and denied bringing anything into the prison but said he had from an enclosed area by the mess hall onto 'B' wing during his shift.

He said he done this after being threatened by "an unknown male, with a Liverpudlian accent, who confronted him outside his home on the morning of Christmas Eve."

When he was re-interviewed in July 2020 and was shown the CCTV showing he had not collected the items from the mess hall he changed his account, “saying he actually collected the items from a locker room situated within the administration block of the prison prior to delivering the post across the prison.”

He claimed the items had been brought into the prison by a female prison officer, whom he named. In a third interview in October 2020 he claimed he believed the man who came to his home and threatened him was linked to two inmates, and that the female prison officer was in an inappropriate relationship with one of them.

John Richards, prosecuting at the trial, said: "“The Crown say this was an attempt by the defendant to try and shift the blame towards another officer."

He also told the jury that when CCTV and automatic number plate recognition was examined to try to identify the vehicle Goss said the man threatening him had used the police drew a blank.

Telematics from Goss’s hire car and examination of his mobile phone showed that on Christmas Eve morning he parked up outside his home at 7.27 am, and five minutes later he was on his phone sending messages to a woman he had met on the dating website ‘Plenty of Fish’.

“This may be wholly inconsistent with him being threatened outside his address in the way he describes," Mr Richards said. “The Crown say the explanation about him being threatened and forced to take the items into prison is a desperate and provable lie.

"There is not a shred of evidence to support his account. He changed his account and his behaviour shows that he is not telling the truth."

A proceeds of crime hearing in Goss' case has been scheduled for March 19 next year.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The overwhelming majority of our prison staff are hardworking and honest and we are dedicated to rooting out those who are not - including by bolstering our Counter-Corruption Unit and strengthening our vetting processes.

“We are working to rebuild our prisons and tackle the drug trade in our jails, to help offenders turn their backs on crime and keep our staff safe.”