A prison governor has denied two counts of misconduct in a public office after she allegedly entered into a relationship with an inmate and drug trafficker who called himself Jesse Pinkman, the name of a meth dealer from the TV show Breaking Bad, a court has heard.
It is alleged Kerri Pegg, 42, became “emotionally and personally involved with a serving prisoner”, Anthony Saunderson, the boss of a drug dealing gang who used the Pinkman name as a handle during secret communications with other criminals. He has since been convicted of drug trafficking.
Pegg also denied one count of possessing criminal property, a £12,000 black Mercedes that jurors at Preston crown court heard Saunderson had bought using 34kg of amphetamines and given to Pegg as a gift.
A former “rising star in the prison service” who was promoted from graduate entrant to governor of HMP Kirkham in just six years, Pegg is accused of failing to disclose county court judgments about her debts, as well as allegedly becoming too close to Saunderson.
Barbara Webster, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury: “Despite her success, she didn’t play by the rules that everybody else had to follow.
“Her downfall was twofold – the first, despite having a good income, she lived beyond her means.
“She spent all her income and more, incurring debts, and she had county court judgments made against her.
“As a consequence, she became vulnerable and open to exploitation.”
Pegg “became very involved” in a plan to release Saunderson from HMP Kirkham, a former colleague told the court.
It is alleged she signed off Saunderson’s temporary release without proper authority in May 2019. By early 2020, Saunderson was using an EncroChat-encrypted mobile phone, used by serious organised criminals to send messages and secretly communicate, the court heard.
Detectives found Saunderson’s DNA on items – size 10 Hugo Boss flip-flops and a toothbrush – at Pegg’s home in Orrell, a suburb of Wigan. Law enforcement agencies also discovered messages on Saunderson’s phone that revealed the “ongoing nature” of his relationship with Pegg, it is alleged.
Both he and Pegg used burner phones to keep in touch, and there were 80 calls and texts from his phone to hers in the space of a month, the court heard. The only other numbers dialled on Saunderson’s phone were to “prostitutes and escorts”, retired detective constable Kevin Byrne, of the National Crime Agency, told the court.
He added that in February 2021, Pegg was arrested at her home and this was coordinated, with North Wales police and Merseyside police, with arrests of what he said was the drug gang led by Saunderson.
The trial continues.
