Prison Officer Contraband and Mobile Phones: Law and Penalties

In shortSections 40B to 40D make it an offence to convey prohibited articles, and the offences reach staff who never physically carry anything.

Sections 40A to 40D were inserted into the Prison Act 1952 by the Offender Management Act 2007. Section 40A classifies articles into three groups, called List A, List B and List C. The legislation is on legislation.gov.uk and is the primary source for everything in this section.

Sections 40B and 40C create offences of conveying those articles into or out of a prison without authorisation, and section 40D covers photographs, recordings, transmission and the possession of devices.

• Bringing or throwing a List A article into or out of a prison.
• Causing another person to do so.
• Leaving such an article in a place intending a prisoner to have it.
• Giving it to a person they know is a prisoner.

In shortA mobile phone can engage both section 40C (List B) and section 40D, each carrying up to two years on indictment.

Mobile phones are in List B, so conveying one without authorisation is a section 40C offence carrying up to two years on indictment.

Separately, section 40D makes it an offence to have in prison, without authorisation, a device capable of transmitting or receiving images, sounds or information by electronic communications, including component parts and storage articles such as disks.

The same two-year maximum applies on indictment, so a phone can engage more than one provision.

Why phones matter

A phone in a prisoner's hands allows contact with organised crime, intimidation of witnesses and victims, and the arrangement of further conveyance. HMPPS treats the people who bring them in as a security risk, and the Counter Corruption framework lists conveyance of prohibited items first among its examples of corruption.

Photography and recording

Section 40D also covers unauthorised photography and sound recording inside a prison and unauthorised transmission of images, sound or information from inside. That is relevant to staff who might photograph a wing or an incident on a personal device and post it online.

Policy versus criminal question

What you may and may not post is covered in our guide to social media rules for prison officers; the criminal question is whether you had authorisation or a recognised defence.

In shortAuthorised conduct is not an offence, and defences exist for reasonable belief in authorisation or overriding public interest, but they are not a general licence.

Each section has an authorisation mechanism. Conduct is not an offence if it is authorised by prison rules or by the Secretary of State, either for all prisons or for particular types, or by the governor or director for a specific prison. Authorisation can be limited to specified people, articles, acts or other terms.

In practice that is why a staff member can bring in equipment such as radios, keys or a medical device and a contractor can bring in tools.

Defence 1: reasonable belief in authorisation

Sections 40C and 40D allow an accused person to show that they reasonably believed they had authorisation.

Defence 2: overriding public interest

An accused person may show that an overriding public interest justified what they did.

Limits

The burden and the detail of how a court treats these defences is a matter for lawyers and depends on the facts. An honest but unreasonable belief, or a convenient informal understanding, may not meet the standard.

In shortConveyance is misconduct and a ground for exclusion, and where it involves abuse of position it is corruption, which is always gross misconduct.

• Exclusion lengthUp to 10 yearsOr indefinite; applies even if the person resigns
• Appeal against exclusion15 working daysMust be made in writing

The Exclusion from Working for HMPPS Policy Framework describes conveyance into or out of prison of prohibited or unauthorised articles as misconduct linked to security and a ground for exclusion. Anything leading to a criminal caution or prosecution, whether work-related or not, is also relevant.

Where the conveyance involves abuse of position for benefit or gain, it is corruption under the Counter Corruption and Reporting Wrongdoing Policy Framework, which lists conveying prohibited items as the first example of corrupt conduct. Dismissal for gross misconduct is possible without a previous warning, subject to a fair process.

See our guides on corruption and bribery and gross misconduct examples.

• Assisting an escape.
• Unauthorised disclosure of information.
• Serious security breaches such as losing keys, locks or radios.
• A deliberate failure to act on information about contraband.

In shortA single missed item is not treated as corruption; a pattern linked to intelligence suggesting it is deliberate can be.

HMPPS searches staff as well as prisoners. The Counter Corruption framework says arrangements are set in each prison's Local Security Strategy, with routine, random and intelligence-led searching of staff (paras 4.35 and 4.37).

It also says that consistent failure or poor performance of searches "can constitute corrupt behaviour" where related intelligence suggests the failure is deliberate (para 4.38).

Searching policy has moved on since that framework: the gov.uk list shows a Searching Policy Framework updated on 31 March 2026, and a policy on managing conveyance of unauthorised and illicit items dated 21 November 2024. We have not reviewed the full text of either, so check them before relying on a detailed search rule.

In shortIf approached to bring something in or overlook something, decline, accept nothing and report it straight away.

Most conveyance cases do not begin with a decision to commit a crime. Academic reviews of prison staff wrongdoing describe a pattern in which a prisoner or an associate tests boundaries with small requests, builds personal obligation and then asks for something more serious.

The framework recognises that staff can be targeted, and tells managers to signpost support, to consider diversion such as moving the prisoner or changing duties, and to encourage early disclosure.

1. Decline.
2. Do not accept anything, including cash, gifts or favours, even in principle or as a way of "playing along".
3. Report it as soon as possible through the intelligence system or your Local Counter Corruption Manager, or through the Integrity Hotline, which is independent and accepts anonymous reports. HMPPS says reporters must not be victimised.

In shortSuspected conveyance starts with intelligence and is triaged by counter corruption, and on conviction the consequences stack.

• A sentence set by the court.
• The possible use of the summary dismissal procedure by HMPPS.
• Withdrawal of security vetting.
• Exclusion from HMPPS and sometimes the wider public sector in practice.
• Dismissal for misconduct does not by itself forfeit Civil Service pension; our guide to criminal conviction consequences covers declarations, pension forfeiture rules and employment rights in more detail.

1. Suspected conveyance usually starts with intelligence, a search, a recovered item or a prisoner or colleague report.
2. The case is triaged by counter corruption, and police may investigate. Police interviews under caution are governed by PACE Code C; see our guide to the interview under caution.
3. During the process you may be moved from your normal duties or suspended, and a wellbeing risk assessment is required where staff are arrested, suspended or excluded in a corruption case.

In shortThese sections apply in England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law and codes, whose current status you should check.

Ask your employer and union how the operator's rules interact with HMPPS requirements. For the general conduct process in public prisons see our disciplinary process guide.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

They have their own prison legislation, rules and staff codes, and we have not verified how the equivalent offences are drafted there. The Scottish Prison Service code of conduct, as published in 2018, lists trafficking of unauthorised items and criminal conviction among examples of gross misconduct, and the Northern Ireland Prison Service has a separate professional code of conduct. Both documents carry old review dates, so check their current status with SPS or NIPS HR and your union.

Private prisons in England and Wales

The criminal law above applies in the same way, and the operator will have its own disciplinary procedure. HMPPS can still exclude non-directly employed staff from working in the estate even though it cannot dismiss them, according to the Counter Corruption framework.