Villains target prison officers with GPS trackers under vehicles and warning notices

VILLAINS installed tracking devices on prison officers’ cars to bring a high-level criminal to a softer prison.

They placed GPS trackers under three vehicles and left a warning in the staff parking lot.

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The gang wanted Ashley Waterman, 34, transferred from Category C HMP Wayland near Griston, Norfolk.

He was part of a gang that carried out a series of armed robberies of security vans in north London in 2015.

He was jailed for 15 years and eight months, later reduced to 13 years on appeal.

The note from the organized crime group reads: “Ashley Waterman asked for a transfer and you weren’t listening, there are three trackers just for the show.”

The staff alerted the police, fearing the guards would be followed to their home and attacked by gang members.

A source said: “It sounds like a Line of Duty storyline on TV, but it was dead serious.

“The trackers were fully functional and would have provided the GPS coordinates of the officers’ homes.

“The officers and their families could have been at real risk.”

Waterman was later transferred to the prison’s segregation unit.

The Justice Department said it was a police matter.

Norfolk Police confirmed they were called to reports of vehicle interference.