Former Gartree Prison Officer Admits Misconduct & Drug Conspiracy
Written by HFM News on 30th July 2026
A former prison officer who worked at HMP Gartree has pleaded guilty to offences including conspiring to supply cannabis and smuggle mobile phones and SIM cards into or out of the jail.
Jamie Speirs, 30, of Stowe Drive, Rugby, appeared at Leicester Crown Court yesterday.
He was a serving prison officer at the jail near Market Harborough at the time of the offences, between May 2022 and March 2023.
Gartree Prison Pic: Andy Carpenter
Speirs pleaded guilty to four offences, including two counts of conspiracy to supply cannabis, a Class B controlled drug.
He also admitted misconduct in public office, relating to inappropriate relationships with inmates at HMP Gartree and encouraging criminal activity carried out by prisoners under his care.
Speirs also pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to bring, throw or otherwise convey prohibited articles, namely mobile phones and SIM cards, into or out of the prison.
He has been remanded on conditional bail and is due to be sentenced at Leicester Crown Court in September.
A further 20 people appeared in court in connection with the investigation, charged with conspiracy to supply a Class B drug and conspiracy to convey a prohibited article into a prison.
Those charged include a number of serving prisoners at jails across England, including HMP Gartree, as well as people from Leicester, Liverpool, London, Cambridgeshire, Staffordshire, Kent and Worcestershire.
All 20 pleaded not guilty and are due to stand trial at Leicester Crown Court later this year.
