craig hickinbottom — a former armed robber — organised the flights from inside.flights carrying contraband thought to have been worth as much as £1.2 million. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford has the story. cameras originally set up to take pictures of wildlife catching instead britain's most prolific drug smuggling gang. recording the pilot mervyn foster time and again flying the drone from the field outside she will prison in worcestershire. it's illegal cargo hanging underneath from fishing line. from the field the smugglers had a view directly into the jail and the prison block where the drones cargo was pulled in through the windows. 0ver where the drones cargo was pulled in through the windows. over the months, the gang grew in confidence and sophistication. they started by simply throwing the drugs over the prison wall but then they started using drones and they added to the contraband, mobile phones, weapons, screwdrivers and even a free view box with a remote control. cameras inside the prison caught one of the ringleaders, craig hickinbott

craig hickinbottom is already serving a separate sentence for armed robbery... at seven, as the republicans lose a key us senate seat in alabama, mica mosbacher, who serves on the national advisory board for donald trump's 2020 presidential campaign. we'll have the very latest from westminster as theresa may tries to avoid a revolt by backbench conservative mps against the government's brexit plans. and at 10.40, we'll take a look at tomorrow's papers withjessica elgot — political reporter at

craig hickinbottom, a former armed robber, organised the flights from inside.flights carrying contraband, thought to have been worth as much as £1.2 million. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, has the story. cameras originally set up to take pictures of wildlife, catching instead britain's most prolific drone smuggling gang. recording the pilot, mervyn foster, time and again flying the drone from a field outside hewell prison in worcestershire. its illegal cargo hanging underneath on fishing line. from the field, the smugglers had a view directly into the jail and the prison block where the drone's cargo was pulled in through the windows. over the months, the gang grew in confidence and sophistication. they'd started by simply throwing the drugs over the prison wall, but then they started using drones and they added to the contraband — mobile phones, weapons, screwdrivers and even a freeview box with a remote control. cameras inside hewell prison caught one of the ringleaders, john hickinbottom, with an improvised hook used to catch the fishing li

the group, run from inside prison by former armed robber craig hickinbottom, he organised at least 49to be worth more than a million pounds into prisons as far apart as the west midlands and perth in scotland. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford has this exclusive report. cameras originally set up to take pictures of wildlife, catching instead britain's most prolific drug smuggling gang. —— drone smuggling. recording the pilot mervyn foster time and again flying a drone from a field outside hewell prison in worcestershire. its illegal cargo hanging underneath on fishing line. from the field, the smugglers had a view directly into the jail and the prison block where the drone's cargo was pulled in through the windows. over the months the gang grew in confidence and sophistication. they had started by simply throwing the drugs over the prison wall. but then they started using drones and they added to the contraband, mobile phones, weapons, screwdrivers, and even a freeview box with a remote control. cameras inside hewell prison caught one of the ringleaders, john hickinbottom

the gang was run from inside prison by a former armed robber craig hickinbottom.contraband estimated to be worth more than a million pounds. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford has this exclusive report. cameras originally set up to take pictures of wildlife, catching instead britain's most prolific drone smuggling gang. recording the pilot mervyn foster time and again flying a drone from a field outside hewell prison in worcestershire. its illegal cargo hanging underneath on fishing line. from the field, the smugglers had a view directly into the jail and the prison block where the drone's cargo was pulled in through the windows. over the months the gang grew in confidence and sophistication. they had started by simply throwing the drugs over the prison wall. but then they started using drones and they added to the contraband, mobile phones, weapons, screwdrivers, and even a freeview box with a remote control. cameras inside hewell prison caught one of the ringleaders, john hickinbottom, with an improvised hook used to catch the fishing line and recove

craig hickinbottom is already serving a separate sentence for armed robbery.a moment, it will be time for sportsday, but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news... at seven, as the republicans lose a key us senate seat in alabama, mica mosbacher, who serves on the national advisory board for donald trump's 2020 presidential campaign. we'll have the very latest from westminster as theresa may tries to avoid a revolt by backbench conservative mps against the government's brexit plans. and at 10.40, we'll take a look at tomorrow's papers withjessica elgot — political reporter at the guardian — and steve hawkes, deputy political editor at the sun. now on bbc news, it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm jessica creighton, here's what's coming up tonight... questions for four—time tour de france winner, chris froome, after he returns a drugs test with twice the permitted level of an asthma drug. england captainjoe root calls on a big performance from his players ahead of the must—win third ashes test. it is an opportunit

the gang, led by armed robber craig hickinbottom, is thought to have smuggled in over £1 million worthcharged. the contents of the loads, on at least 49 flights, were specifically ordered by individual inmates from the midlands to scotland. the recent epidemic of drones being used to airlift contraband into prison grew from nothing injust four years. we didn't see this one come in. so the drones literally came from nowhere, they were flown in, and it actually just was a game—changer for us. so we had to really look at our systems, our procedures, and our methods of gathering intelligence. and it gave the gangs an opportunity to breach the perimeter and the walls here almost effortlessly. to crack the case, officers downloaded the memories of the drones they seized, and linked that to mobile phone calls the smugglers were making. the prisons minister has had to invest millions of pounds in a new national network of police and prison officers working together, which helped catch this game. what we've shown here is that this is the most prolific gang we've come across, and we've been able

the gang was run from inside prison by a former armed robber, craig hickinbottom.rt. cameras originally set up to take pictures of wildlife, catching instead britain's most prolific drone smuggling gang. recording the pilot mervyn foster time and again flying a drone from a field outside hewell prison in worcestershire. its illegal cargo hanging underneath on fishing line. from the field, the smugglers had a view directly into the jail and the prison block where the drone's cargo was pulled in through the windows. over the months the gang grew in confidence and sophistication. they had started by simply throwing the drugs over the prison wall. but then they started using drones and they added to the contraband, mobile phones, weapons, screwdrivers, and even a freeview box with a remote control. cameras inside hewell prison caught one of the ringleaders, john hickinbottom, with an improvised hook used to catch the fishing line and recover the contra band. the contents of the loads were specifically ordered by inmates. the officer who caught the gang told me they had

craig hickinbottom is already serving a separate sentence for armed robbery. mps. mps backed a change to the eu withdrawal bill, which called for the terms of a final deal between the uk and the eu to be approved by a new law passed by parliament. earlier, the prime minister had offered a concession and promised that mps would have their say before the uk left the eu in march 2019. the amendment, which was proposed by the conservative former attorney general, dominic grieve, was approved by 309 votes to 305 a majority of four. well, in one level, i'm obviously pleased with the outcome, because i felt it was a vote which had to be taken, particularly in view of the intransigent and difficulty we had in trying to reason with the government over the last few days. doi government over the last few days. do i otherwise feel good about it? no. it is the first time i have ever had to rebel on an issue, a national issue, against the government can i think i have only done it once before, in respect of hs2. so it is one of the most unpleasant things one of the most unp