A Holloway solicitor who smuggled drugs and mobile phones into Pentonville prison in his trousers and oversized shoes has been sentenced to six years in jail.
He is one of five people who have been sentenced to a total of 24 years in jail for smuggling illicit goods into the prison on Caledonian Road.
Ritesh Brahmbhatt, 31, a solicitor at Holloway Road law firm Mordi & Co, was arrested in September 2009 after being caught by sniffer dogs with 53g of cannabis, mobile phones and telephone parts hidden in his clothes.
From March to September 2009, Brahmbhatt took advantage of his immunity as a solicitor from the rigorous searches that other prison visitors underwent in order to hide the drugs and phones.
The goods were received by prison inmates Desmond Brown, 28 and David Stirling, 27, who made £20,000 from selling the contraband to other prisoners.
Prison guards grew suspicious of Brahmbhatt’s frequent visits to the two prisoners, coupled with the increased amount of illicit goods found in their cells. The introduction of a new policy of searching all visitors eventually led to his arrest.
Brahmbhatt, who pleaded guilty to the charges in July last year, claimed he had been forced to smuggle in the items at gunpoint. This was dismissed by Judge Deva Pillay , as a blatant fabrication.
Sentencing him at Blackfriars Crown Court, Judge Pillay said: “You are a devious, conniving and unprincipled individual with an arrogant and contemptuous disregard for the rule of law.”
Judge Pillay expressed his disappointment that Brahmbhatt had not been suspended from his office as a solicitor as soon as he was charged since he used his continuing access to prisoners to smuggle a mobile phone into Winchester Prison while on bail.
“I hope that the law society will think long and hard before ever granting you again a licence to practise as a solicitor,” he said.
Stirling and Brown, who were serving prison terms for robbery and drugs offences at the time of the conspiracy, were each sentenced to five years and four and a half years respectively.
Also involved in the racket were Desmond’s girlfriend Danielle Porter, 24, a beautician, and Calvin Chance, 27 who was on bail at the time, having been charged with smuggling illicit goods into another prison.
Chance received five and a half years in prison and Porter three. Judge Pillay described Porter, who wiped away tears as her sentence was read out, as a hardworking and considerate individual.
“Brahmbhatt and Brown corrupted you. But you did not resist and you played your full part,” he added.
The defendants will all serve at least half of their sentences in prison, and will remain on parole for the rest of their sentences.
Newspaper Journalism student at City University, London. Cambridge Graduate. Interested in all occurrences in Islington. Business editor of Islington Now.