Jon Moorby, 54, says he is under high security in prison and has been put in the same category as a terrorist. Get the latest news from Teesside Crown Court direct to your inbox with our free email newsletter. We have more newsletters. A notorious Teesside drugs lord says he has been refused permission to visit his sick mum in hospital - claiming HMP Frankland bosses are concerned he is an escape risk.
Jon Moorby is serving a year sentence, partly for his role in a global drugs ring, that saw chartered helicopters fly millions of pounds of drugs over the channel, before they were dropped off at rented holiday homes in Kent.
The year-old's previous use of airbourn transport and his underworld connections has left prison bosses fearful that he is capable of escaping, he told Teesside Live. In fact, Moorby has previously made no secret of the fact that he wants to return to Thailand, where he has a partner and a daughter. The notorious criminal is under high security in prison, with guards accompanying him whenever he leaves his cell.
He spends his days in art classes and in the prison gym, and a hospital visit would have involved at least three armed guards accompanying him. His murky past and the apparent escape risk he poses means he now can't go to visit his beloved devout Baptist Christian mum, Susan Moorby, 78 , in the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton.
She was admitted there two weeks ago fighting problems in her kidneys, heart and lungs. She hasn't been able to visit her son in prison for years, after becoming housebound, suffering from osteoporosis and arthritis, and relying on her morphine prescription. She has been cared for by her husband, Moorby's dad, Robert Moorby, 84, in their Ingleby Barwick apartment. The devoted parents have always sent money into prison for Moorby, which he says he spends on protein shakes.
