UPDATE: |The Hugo Boss flipflops which exposed glam prison boss’s relationship with a drugs kingpin News

Police found Anthony Saunderson’s DNA on a pair of flip flops at Kerri Pegg’s house

A prison service boss described as a ‘rising star’ is facing jail after she began a relationship with a Liverpool drugs kingpin, Anthony Saunderson.

Saunderson, from Formby, ran a drugs empire on EncroChat, and it was this this use of the messaging service which provided evidence of his relationship with Kerri Pegg, from Wigan. He was known to criminal associates as “Jesse Pinkman”, the drug dealer in Breaking Bad, or “James Gandolfini”, the actor who played Tony Soprano in the mafia TV series.

Pegg was found guilty of misconduct in a public office on Tuesday, April 8 and will be sentenced at a later date. The 42-year-old climbed the career ladder from graduate to governor at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire in six years, but not everything was as it seemed.

Pegg began a relationship with Saunderson – a major Liverpool crime figure – and helped him secure day release. During the three-week trial a jury heard she was also gifted a £12,000 Mercedes by Saunderson.

The court also heard that when Pegg’s home was raided, police found Saunderson’s DNA on a pair of size 10 Hugo Boss flip flops and a toothbrush. Messages on Saunderson’s phone also allegedly revealed the “ongoing nature” of his relationship with Pegg.

These included a message “car her [sic] for ya bird 12 quid or work” and a picture of a black Mercedes coupe. The court heard “12 quid” meant £12,000 and “work” meant drugs.

Another message to Saunderson from a friend read: “where u ya seedy man u and Peggy out floating orrel in the new whip?”

But who is Anthony Saunderson and what crimes did he commit?

Back in 2014, reports The Echo, Saunderson was one of Merseyside’s most wanted fugitives and was jailed for 10 years over his part in a plot to recover £19.5m in missing cocaine. The then 34-year-old fled Merseyside when he realised police were closing in on him.

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He was thought to have gone abroad but was arrested at a flat in Salford and was later jailed for drugs and money laundering offences. In June 2017, Saunderson was transferred to HMP Kirkham and this is where he met prison governor Pegg.

During this time there were concerns of inappropriate behaviour between Pegg and Saunderson. The two often were in her office together with the door closed. In October 2018, Saunderson put in a release on temporary licence (ROTL) request which Pegg signed off, though she did not have the authority to do so.

Saunderson was released from Kirkham in May 2019 and within two months, while still on licence, was involved in another massive drug conspiracy. The court heard he was developing and delivering a programme called Beating Alcohol and Drug Dependency (BADD) for inmates at several prisons while running the enterprise.

Pegg’s trial heard he continued contact with prisons in the BADD programme and was also still close to Pegg, who was at the time the regional official co-ordinating drug strategy in six prisons in the North West. The Prison Service has been contacted for comment.

Saunderson and his gang were producing and supplying drugs on an industrial scale from a lab at a premises on the England/Wales border and a storage unit in Aintree. He was jailed for 35 years at Liverpool Crown Court in August 2022 after law enforcement agencies cracked the Encrochat system, the phone network used by serious organised criminals.

Saunderson’s EncroChat massages not only revealed his drug dealing, but also his relationship with Pegg. Police raided her apartment in Orrell, Wigan, in November 2020. The Mercedes paid for by Saunderson was parked outside. They discovered designer clothes, handbags and jewellery, and found Pegg living way beyond her means, buying Jimmy Choo shoes and Chanel necklaces.

Detectives discovered that despite her £3,000 a month income, Pegg was deep in debt and had not declared three County Court judgments which amounted to misconduct, as debts make officials vulnerable to corruption.

Her four credit cards were “maxed out” and she had 6p in her savings account. Detectives also found a toothbrush and a pair of Hugo Boss flip flops both carrying Saunderson’s DNA.

Andrew Alty, defending, in his closing speech to the jury, claimed Pegg had been, “green and stupid” and a naive and gullible person who was manipulated by Saunderson. Pegg tearfully told jurors she had been “incredibly stupid” but did not think she had done anything wrong.

Barbara-Louise Webster, prosecuting, said Pegg had a promising future, but added: “Anthony Saunderson was her downfall.”