The chair of a prison officer's union has condemned an officer at Chelmsford prison, saying he "put other prisoner officers and prisoners at risk."

Andrew Gillespie, 35, was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after he smuggled a shoe box into Chelmsford prison containing eight mobile phones, six charger cables and five sim cards for one of the inmates.

A Chelmsford Crown Court heard how the inmate told Mr Gillespie that he knew his home address and that his wife and child would suffer an acid attack if they did not adhere to his demands.

But Mark Fairhurst, who is the national chair of the Professional Trade Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers Union, believed this was no excuse for his actions.

He said: "I think he is corrupt and I have no sympathy. 

"The amount of times inmates tell me that they are going to shoot me or firebomb me; there are suitable procedures and ways of reporting incidents like this."

"I think he should have got a custodial sentence. He put other prison officers and prisoners at risk."

Mr Gillespie, of Elgar Drive, Witham, resigned from his job as a prison oficer at Chelmsford prison where he had worked for 13 years.