DRUG SMUGGLER IS MOVED AFTER ESCAPE FEARS

SANDRA GREGORY, the drug smuggler transferred to England from a Bangkok
jail, was moved to a special high-security unit yesterday amid fears of an
escape plot.

The move came after prison officers and senior prison staff studied
intelligence gathered on Gregory in the four months that she has been in
Foston Hall jail near Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Prison staff decided to move Gregory, 32, to H-wing in Durham prison, a
high-security unit which also houses Rose West, the mass murderer. Previous
inmates include Myra Hindley, the Moors murderer, and Martina Anderson and
Ella O'Dwyer, the IRA terrorists.

Prison staff at Foston Hall, which reopened last August to cope with the
rising female prison population, have been keeping a close watch on
Gregory, her behaviour and her mail for four months.

Their suspicions had been raised by staff at Holloway jail, North London,
who had watched Gregory since she returned to Britain in June 1997 after
her transfer from prison in Thailand.

Gregory sent her passport and items of jewellery out of Holloway in a move
which although not against prison discipline, caused staff to be suspicious
of her intentions. After she was transferred to Foston Hall, staff kept her
under surveillance.

They became worried after watching her talking frequently to a man who was
apparently visiting a fellow inmate whom, it is understood, he did not know.

In recent weeks she has also been sent an unknown amount of Thai and US
currency.

Foston Hall has also been hit by a series of false fire alarms during the
past week, leading staff to suspect that an escape attempt was being
considered.

Gregory, who has been a model prisoner since arriving back in Britain,
spends her time fitness training and doing a computer course. The former
teacher from Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire was arrested at Bangkok airport
in 1993. She had been carrying 102 grammes of heroin in a condom inside her
body. Gregory was tried in 1996 and initially faced the death penalty, but
the sentence was commuted to 25 years in prison, and later cut to 22 years
in an amnesty.

She was returned to Britain under a transfer arrangement with Thailand.

Gregory will lose no privileges as a result of her sudden move, but life in
Durham will be more restricted than at Foston Hall. The wing has
accommodation for 48 high-security prisoners and includes a textile
workshop and an activity centre where women can make soft toys, and do
knitting and pottery.

There is a separate gym and Gregory will be allowed 30 minutes of outdoor
exercise each morning and afternoon, plus two hours in the evening.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski