Trio guilty of smuggling phones and drugs into Wandsworth prison on drone sparking chase which led to girlfriend’s crash in 91mph police chase

Three smugglers have admitted using a drone to fly phones and drugs into Wandsworth prison – more than two years after one of them pleaded guilty to speeding away in his car to Fulham and killing his girlfriend in a 91-mile-an-hour police chase.

Craig Kearney, 30, had been trying to evade police at high speeds when his Peugeot 206 GTI flipped and struck the front of a house, killing girlfriend Acacia Smith, 25, who was in the passenger seat.

Today (Friday, 30 October) at Kingston Crown Court Jamie Duggan, 30,  from Staines, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey prohibited items into a prison and conspiracy to supply psychoactive substances. Co-defendants Kye Hardy-King, 28, from Hounslow, and Kearney, 30, also pleaded guilty to the same charges at earlier hearings.

 They will be sentenced next month.

Residents called cops after seeing a drone flying near Wandsworth prison at around 3am on 9 August 2016.

Police intercepted Kearney, who was driving away at speed from the prison. He failed to stop and sped towards Wandsworth Bridge Road before crashing into a lamppost. 

Officers who came across the crumpled wreck initially thought Kearney was alone, but heard him crying out Acacia Smith’s name. Her lifeless body was pulled from the car. The driver was injured and needed hospital treatment.

Kearney, who had traces of cannabis and cocaine in his system, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment at the Old Bailey in February 2018.

 A white four-propeller drone was found close to the scene of the crash. Policefound around 174g of a herbal synthetic cannabis-type substance along with nine miniature mobile phones, four USB flash drives, cables and a memory card wrapped in cellophane.

An examination of the drone found that it had been switched on at the home address of Hardy-King in Hounslow earlier in the evening. It had then been flown for three minutes and 14 seconds – but was only in the air at 110m above ground level for 13 seconds outside the prison before the controller brought it back down.

Their phones showed all the defendants were knew each other. A message sent by Kearney said: “We gotta go n do duggy drone 2nite.” This linked back to Duggan who was already serving time at Wandsworth prison and would have been the recipient. Prison officers had already found three mobile phones in his cell on two previous searches.

Paul Goddard, from the CPS, said: “Drones are a scourge on our prisons and have contributed to blighting them with illegal substances, phones and other illicit items.

“This greatly impacts on the ability of authorities to be able to keep prisoners safe and stop criminal enterprises from working from the inside.

“The prosecution was able to show that Kearney, Duggan and Hardy-King were all working together in this conspiracy to get psychoactive substances and mobile phones into Wandsworth prison.

 “The CPS has been working closely with the police in this complex case providing advice and guidance at various stages. These guilty pleas have brought an end to a long and thorough investigation by the police who have worked incredibly hard to piece together all the evidence needed for this successful prosecution.

“We take the dealing of substances and other illegal items inside prisons extremely seriously and will work with our criminal justice partners to prosecute those who break the law.”

Kearney sped off when police arrived, running red lights at speeds of up to 91mph before eventually losing control of the Peugeot in Wandsworth Bridge Road.

The car flipped on to its side and caught fire, striking a house and flattening bollards before coming to a stop. Police didn’t recognise it when they arrived – it looked like it had been crushed in a wrecking yard.

Ms Smith’s mother pleaded for leniency, but the case was among the the most serious of its type.

A family statement said: “Caysha’s life has been cut short, she could never be replaced, our lives will never be the same. Never again will I see her smile, see her laugh, watch her new dance moves, hear her call me grandfather.”

Kearney, from Southall, was jailed for eight years in 2018 and was also disqualified from driving for the 10 years.