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A pharmacy technician who snuck drugs including cocaine into the prison where she worked has been jailed for six years and three months.

Tanya Petrie, 61, from Worle, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court last month having been convicted of conspiring to bring or convey a list A prohibited article in a prison.

Avon and Somerset Police said officers “observed” her taking an item from a wheelie bin in the front garden of a property in Somerdale Avenue, Bristol, at 6.30am on October 17, 2023.

The item was placed in the bin by Casey Collins, 23, from Knowle West, who was one of the occupants of the property. When Petrie went to HMP Bristol for her shift, she was detained and searched. During the search, she handed an officer a package wrapped in cling film containing four packages of class B drugs, two packages of class A drugs (cocaine) and tobacco.

She was arrested on suspicion of being part of a conspiracy to take prohibited items into a prison. Petrie also admitted taking money from the bin and going to a local garage to buy SIM cards which she also snuck into the prison and gave to prisoner Kyle Joyner, 32.

After an “in-depth data analysis”, officers discovered two phone numbers which were being used inside the prison. Avon and Somerset Police said the phone was “linked” to Joyner who was using it to contact Collins.

Joyner and Collins were jailed for three years and two years and four months respectively after pleading guilty to conveying listed A prohibited items into the prison in January 2025.

Joyner was already serving eight years and eight months for another offence. Petrie also pleaded guilty to conveying a list B prohibited article into a prison.

Senior investigating officer DI Tim Seaman from the serious and organised crime team said Petrie’s actions “enable organised crime, fuel violence and undermine the hard work of honest staff who dedicate themselves to running secure and rehabilitative environments.”

“This investigation sends a clear message: our investigations into organised crime will identify those who facilitate organised criminality,” Seaman said.

“We will work tirelessly with our partners and use every tactic available to bring those involved in corruption to justice, regardless of their role or position.”

Petrie is currently suspended from the pharmacy technician register under an interim order. When asked if it will remove her from the register, a GPhC spokesperson told Independent Community Pharmacist: “Following her conviction, we will now take forward our fitness to practise investigation and anticipate a fitness to practise committee hearing will be scheduled in due course.”