A man from Dagenham who tried to smuggle drugs and phones into prison has been jailed.

Simeon Theodule, of Lillechurch Road, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to convey drugs and prohibited items into prison at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday.

The 27-year-old was working with Bernard Omolafe, from Thamesmead, to try and smuggle the items into HMP Maidstone last year.

Theodule was sentenced to two years and two months imprisonment, while Omolafe received one year and 10 months, after he denied two counts of conspiracy to convey drugs and prohibited items into prison but was found guilty.

The men were seen acting suspiciously in County Road in June. Plain-clothed officers followed them, and the men were arrested when packages of spice (a psychoactive substance), cannabis, phones, chargers and headphones were found outside the prison.

Staff inside the prison also found a phone which had been packaged up and thrown over the wall. Forensics revealed Theodule’s fingerprints on the packaging.

DS Dan Barker said: “When Theodule was being arrested his phone was still receiving calls from an inmate telling him he was heading to the prison yard, in anticipation of drugs being thrown over the wall.

“When prohibited articles get into the hands of prisoners they fuel violence, medical emergencies and also lead to further crimes being committed, both inside and outside the prison estate.”

Theodule also admitted two further charges concerning the supply of cannabis and for conveying a phone into a prison.

The judge ruling the case, Julian Smith, said: “In the prison establishment, the opportunities for bullying, control and causing debt are greater. “Controlled substances in this environment are especially serious. There is no option but an immediate custodial sentence.”

Prisons minister Rory Stewart said: “I am determined to stop drugs and phones being smuggled into our prisons. They are illegal, they fuel violence, they undermine our programmes of education, and ultimately they hinder our ability to make our prisons safe and decent.

“These prosecutions show how the police and HMPPS can work together to tackle the problem, and I am grateful to the police officers and prison staff involved.”