Plaistow prison officer helped dealer smuggle drugs into jail

Friday, April 20, 2012
4:00 PM

A drug dealer caught by a sniffer dog smuggling cannabis into prison has been jailed for six years.

Dane Dacas, 20, had been given the 5.87 grammes of hashish by crooked dock officer Leanne Bakarr, of Plaistow, when he appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court.

He was supposed to pass the two blocks to two fellow inmates at HMP Chelmsford. But a police dog nosed around Dacas and alerted his handler to the presence of the drug.

Dacas was appearing at the magistrates’ court after being caught with 54 wraps of cocaine and heroin at the end of a high-speed chase.

At the time, he was on police bail after officers discovered 28 wraps of the same two drugs hidden behind a door panel of his red Fiat.

When officers seized his phone they found a text message sent from Dacas to 12 people using the slang terms for cocaine and heroin which read: “I’m on mate. Pukka Milk and Coffee.”

In April last year officers spotted Dacas being driven in a blue Ford Focus in Rectory Road, Hackney.

After a high-speed chase Dacas jumped from the car and threw away a bag containing 27 wraps of heroin, weighing 2.78g, and 27 wraps of cocaine, weighing 2.97g.

Philip Levy, defending, described Dacas as a “Jack-the-lad” character who had seen the error of his ways.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith ordered Dacas to serve six years in a young offenders’ institution.

Dacas, formerly of St Kilda’s Road, Stoke Newington, admitted four counts of possession of a controlled substance of class A with intent and one count of possession of cannabis.

Bakarr, of Tyas Road, Plaistow, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and misconduct in a public or judicial office.

She was sentenced to two years and 10 months’ imprisonment.