'Bubbly blonde' prison governor who accepted £12k Mercedes from crime boss GUILTY of misconduct
"Naive and gullible" Keri Pegg developed a relationship with major Liverpool crime figure Anthony Saunderson, known to associates as “Jesse Pinkman”
A former prison governor has been found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office and one count of possession of criminal property at Preston Crown Court today (April 8).
Keri Pegg had been accused of having a relationship with an inmate and accepting a £12,000 Mercedes from him as a gift while a governor at HMP Kirkham.
Previously, the court heard how the 42-year-old divorcee, described as “petite, blonde and bubbly”, had been a 'rising star' in the Prison Service.
Instead, “naive and gullible” Pegg was taken advantage of by major Liverpool crime figure Anthony Saunderson, known to associates as “Jesse Pinkman”, the meth-dealing character from TV’s Breaking Bad.
When police raided her apartment, in Orrell, Wigan, they found size 10 Hugo Boss flip flops and a toothbrush carrying Saunderson’s DNA.
Officers also seized the Mercedes C class saloon outside her home when investigators swooped in November 2019.
Prior to the guilty verdict, Andrew Alty, defending, in his closing speech described Pegg as “green and stupid”, but added she had led an “unblemished life”, never having been in trouble with police before, and later going on to work for a homeless charity.
Pegg had denied all the offences and tearfully told jurors she had been “incredibly stupid”, but did not think she had done anything wrong.
Saunderson was given a 10-year jail term in November 2014 for drugs conspiracy and money laundering. In June 2017 he was moved to HMP Kirkham.
He “had the ear” of Pegg and he regularly visited her office with the door closed, the court heard.
After his release from jail Saunderson became involved in another conspiracy to supply drugs, and was later identified as the boss of a drug gang going by the name of Jesse Pinkman on the EncroChat encrypted mobile phone network, used by organised crime gangs.
At the same time, in July 2019, the court heard newly-released Saunderson was contracted by some prisons to run a project called Breaking Alcohol and Drug Dependency.
Pegg, at the time the regional official co-ordinating drug strategy in six prisons in the north west of England, and “passionate” about the BADD project, thought of Saunderson not as an ex-inmate but a “colleague”, and she said this explained her contact with him as he was working on the project.
Later, when police cracked the EncroChat system, it revealed Saunderson’s drug dealing and his alleged relationship with Pegg.
Saunderson is now serving 35 years behind bars.
Pegg, a keen gym-goer inside jail, was seen as a “rising star” in the Prison Service, quickly climbing the career ladder from graduate entrant to prison governor in six years, along the way also having breast enhancement surgery.
She claimed her contact with Saunderson was due to his involvement in the BADD programme.
But even members of his gang grumbled that their boss was spending too much time with Pegg and away from his wife and “work”.
Pegg was convicted of two counts of misconduct in a public office and one count of possession of criminal property.
The jury was out for two hours and 43 minutes, following a three-week trial.
Pegg made no reaction as the guilty verdicts were delivered.
Judge Graham Knowles told Pegg a prison term was “inevitable”, but bailed the defendant to the court building while a sentencing date is arranged either later on Tuesday or at a later date.