BRAHMBHATT:SNIFFER DOGS GREETED ‘BIG SHOES’ LAWYER AT PRISON GATES

 
A solicitor who smuggled drugs and phones into a prison in his giant shoes went ‘pale’ when he was greeted by sniffer dogs, a court heard.

Ritesh Brahmbhatt, 31, was caught with three inch packages containing skunk, the illegal stimulant ‘meow meow’ and even electronic scales inside his size 12 wide-fitting shoes, jurors have heard.

The loafers were at least three sizes too big for the lawyer.
 
Blackfriars Crown Court heard he was planning to pass the contraband to inmate David Sterling, 28, who was wearing a full Muslim robe to receive the banned items at Pentonville jail in north London.
 
The items would have been used to fuel a black market prison trade which could have been worth thousands of pounds.
 
Sterling and fellow prisoner Desmond Brown, 26, are accused of a conspiracy to smuggle drugs and phones into HMP Pentonville.
 
They are standing trial alongside Brown’s girlfriend Danielle Porter, 24, and friend Calvin Chance, 26, who are said to have helped run the scheme from the outside.
 
Brahmbhatt, who worked for Holloway law firm Mordi and Co, is not before the court.
 
The six-month racket was exposed when prison officer Lucy McLaren noticed he had made 15 legal visits to Sterling between February 25 and September 17, 2009.

She arranged a surprise sniffer operation for the last visit and watched as the bent lawyer saw the dogs waiting.

Ms McLaren told jurors: ‘He came up the stairs towards and looked shocked to see we were doing a search as they would normally be done out-of-hours.

‘I told him we were going to be conducting a dog search on all visitors and there would be a slight delay.

‘He went very pale and started to pat his jacket pockets as though he’d forgotten something.

‘He began to walk back down the stairs, away from the search area.

‘I told him if he wanted to go back downstairs to retrieve anything from the locker, he could do it afterwards.

‘He agreed and was invited into the dog search room.’

Brahmbhatt was told to stand still in the middle of the room with his arms down.

The officer continued: ‘Both the handlers then informed me that the dogs had given a positive indication that Mr Brahmbhatt had been near or was in possession of a controlled substance.

‘I walked into the dog search area and informed him that because we’d had two positive drug indications we would be holding him for the attendance of another officer.

‘He asked me to close the door so that none of his colleagues could see that he was being held.’

The door was shut and inside a second officer carried out a ‘rub down’ search, and looked in his mouth and shoes.

‘Mr Brahmbhatt at first didn’t want to remove his shoes,’ she said.

‘However, eventually he took them off.

‘There were two packages inside his shoes.

‘They were taken away and put inside an evidence bag.’

Jurors were shown a photograph of the black leather slip-ons with a metal buckle.

He had bought the size 12’s days before in a branch of High and Mighty, which specialises in outsize menswear, jurors heard.

Ms McLaren said the lawyer then turned to face the wall to extract another parcel from the ‘crotch’ of his trousers, which he handed over.

Police arrived to arrest him and led him down to his locker, which was found to contain another package and a brown envelope ‘containing a quantity of cash’, added the witness.

Sterling was waiting for the appointment inside the prison wearing a full length Muslim robe, the court heard.
 
Inspection of the contents of Brahmbhatt’s right shoe unearthed a clingfilm package containing a mobile phone, earphones and accessories, a pair of electronic scales and a small quantity of mephedrone, commonly known as meow meow.
 
A second package containing 25 grams of skunk cannabis was found in his left shoe.
 
Officers also found 27grammes of skunk and 53grammes of cannabis in his trousers.
 
Brahmbhatt admitted that he had more items in his locker, where prison officers found two mobile phones, and £300 in cash which prosecutors believe was his fee.
 
An investigation later found the solicitor had the phone numbers for the defendants on his mobile phone.
 
Sim cards were also seized from both Sterling and Brown in prison.
 
Sterling, of (11) Mallory Close and Brown, of (59) John Walsh Tower, Montague Rd, both Bromley-by-Bow, east London, Porter, of (12) Saltern Court, Barking, Essex, and Chance, of 36 Birch Grove, Leytonstone, east London, all deny two charges of conspiracy to convey articles including drugs, mobile phones and components into prison.
 
Brahmbhatt, of Wanstead Park Road, Ilford, is not before the court.
 
The trial continues.

ends