Teen texted friend 'it'll be sweet' but was left giving fist bumps as he was jailed

Reece Abbott was caught attempting to smuggle a package of cocaine, cannabis and tobacco into Walton prison in his trousers

A teenager texted a friend "it'll be sweet" before a failed attempt to smuggle drugs into prison. Reece Abbott was caught with a package full of cocaine, cannabis and tobacco down his trousers while attempting to visit an inmate at HMP Liverpool.

The thwarted plot apparently came after a "male with a reputation" issued threats towards his grandma over an unpaid drug debt. Prophetically, the failed smuggler also stated during a message prior to his arrest: "If you don't hear from me, you know why."

Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Friday, that Abbott set off a metal detector upon visiting Walton prison at around 3.30pm on September 14 last year. When a security officer then began performing a pat down search of the now 20-year-old, a package containing quantities of cocaine, cannabis and tobacco fell from his trouser leg.

Paul Becker, prosecuting, described how the defendant initially attempted to walk away before being informed that the doors to the facility had been locked. When police subsequently looked at his phone, Abbot was found to have earlier messaged a friend saying: "I'm taking him some polly [cannabis]. If you don't hear from me, you know why. It'll be sweet though."

Abbott, of Porter Avenue in Newton-le-Willows, was previously handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for a year in April 2024 for dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, drug driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance. He claims that he had attempted to smuggle the contraband behind bars after racking up a £300 cannabis, which led to a "male with a reputation" threatening to "come back to his nan's flat" if he did not obey his orders.

Stella Hayden, defending, told the court: "People use individuals like this young defendant to take the risk that they do not want to take themselves. He was 19 at the time of this offending. The court may accept that there is an issue with maturity here.

"Before the court is a young man with some vulnerabilities. He was not fortunate to have the most stable childhood. He witnessed domestic violence and was also regrettably subjected to it.

"There is the text message that starkly makes plain that he appreciated the risk he was taking. He must have been trusted to take that particular risk. It will be his first term of imprisonment. I ask the court to impose the shortest term it can impose."

Abbott admitted possession of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing in the dock wearing a black Berghaus tracksuit, he was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

He then shook hands and gave fist bumps to his supporters in the public gallery as he was led to the cells, with one of the young males telling him "ring me lad". Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "You expected financial benefit in the reduction of a debt and you understood the scale of the operation.

"There are aggravating features. You have some previous convictions. They are not similar in nature. However, about five months before these offences, the court passed a suspended sentence on you.

"Another aggravating feature is the quantity of the drug. You were not supplying to a prisoner who would simply consume them himself. You were supplying it to somebody who was going to supply them in prison. The quantity of drugs tells me that, and that makes the case significantly worse."