Prison Governor convicted of having relationship with drug-dealing prisoner

A former prison governor has been found guilty of having a relationship with a prisoner and accepting a Mercedes from him as a gift.

Kerri Pegg, 42 from Up Holland in Lancashire, was convicted of misconduct in public office and possession of criminal property in a trial at Preston Crown Court.

Pegg was a governor-grade prison officer at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire in 2018 when Anthony Saunderson was reaching the end of a lengthy sentence for large scale drug dealing. 

Other officers noted a close relationship between Pegg and Saunderson, which eventually extended to her intervening to approve his temporary release on licence.

In mid-2019 Saunderson was released from prison and early the following year, was using an encrypted communication system called Encrochat to speak to his criminal associates.

Law enforcement agencies gained access to Encrochat and were able to see the messages which included references to ‘Kerry’ and to obtaining a Mercedes for his girlfriend.

On 6 April 2020 Saunderson was sent a message saying ‘car her (sic) for ya bird 12 quid or work’.

‘12 quid’ in this criminal context means £12,000 and ‘work’ means drugs. Saunderson was then sent a picture of a black Mercedes coupe.

On 11 April Saunderson was joking with associates on Encrochat about driving around with ‘Peggy’ in her new car.

In late 2020, Pegg was arrested and the Mercedes was parked outside her house. She had a ‘burner’ mobile telephone used just to communicate with Saunderson and his DNA was found on footwear and a toothbrush at her home.  

Investigations following her arrest also showed that she was in serious debt and had a number of county court judgements against her.

Pegg had never disclosed any relationship with Saunderson, nor the county court judgements, to her employer. The rules of her employment required her to disclose both. She has since been dismissed from her role.

Since his release, Saunderson has been convicted of drugs and firearms offences and is back in prison serving a 35-year sentence.

Tarryn McCaffrey from the Crown Prosecution Service said:  ‘Kerri Pegg’s conduct fell far short of what might be expected from any professional within the prison service, let alone one of such a senior grade as prison governor.

‘She was clearly involved in an inappropriate relationship with Saunderson after he was released and the evidence points to this going back further, to a time when he was in jail.

‘This relationship, and the fact that Pegg failed to disclose her debts to her employers, amount to a gross breach of trust and are therefore extremely damaging to public confidence.

‘The CPS will not hesitate to prosecute cases such as this where public servants abuse their position.’