AN ex-prison tutor made more than £60,000 through his illegal activities at work, a court heard.

Jason Taylor, aged 52 and of Prestwich Gardens in Llay, was sentenced in December 2023 after he was caught smuggling drugs into HMP Berwyn to pass on to inmates.

At the time of the offences, in June 2021, Taylor was employed by Novus Cambria - HMP Berwyn's education department.

His offending came to light when a prison officer noted a smell of cannabis around envelopes which had been deposited into internal mailboxes.

Checks revealed one of the envelopes contained 186g of the substance - and another had 75 sheets of paper containing spice.

Of those 75 sheets, 30 had been printed with court-related documentation, which the court heard was an attempt to avoid closer inspection.

Taylor was identified as the one responsible and received a 32 month jail sentence.

He appeared in the dock on Thursday afternoon for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing, in order for the court to certify the total value of his criminal benefits - as well as how much could be reclaimed from him by the authorities.

Laura Knightly, prosecuting told the court Taylor's benefit figure came to some £62,085.21.

And the amount available for confiscation was £1,147.50.

The court heard the figures were accepted by Taylor's defence team.

As such, Judge Rhys Rowlands certified the amounts and ordered that the available money be forfeited within three months.

The Judge said some who do not understand the POCA process may see the figures and consider the confiscation "a nonsense" given the difference in the totals.

But he emphasised to Taylor: "The court only orders you to pay the available amount - because that's the only amount available.

"But if you come into more money on your release, the authorities can come after you and recover the outstanding sums."