Woman smuggled drugs into prison in her bra

Naomi Lane was visiting her cousin at HMP Northumberland when she was spotted pulling out a package from her clothing, which she passed over.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the illegal bundle contained around 60 class C drugs, involving a combination of opiates, benzodiazepines and anabolic steroids.

Prosecutor Neil Pallister told the court it was on Saturday September 14 2019 when Lane visited the the prison in Acklington, Northumberland.

Mr Pallister said: "She went to visit a prisoner and was at a table in the visitors area, sitting opposite the prisoner.

"She was seen to remove an item from her bra and hand it to him."

The court heard prison officers detained him and found the drugs in the package.

Lane, 29, of Eddleston, Washington, pleaded guilty to four charges of conveying banned items into prison.

Recorder Andrew Smith sentenced her to a 12 month community order with rehabilitation.

He said she had been "foolish" to take the drugs in and added: "They are capable of being misused and are misused in prison.

"They can caused problems because of money owed from one prisoner to another and the risk of violence that comes with it.

"For that reason, taking drugs into prison is a serious offence."

The court head Lane had been pressured into doing it.

Robin Patton, defending said: "Her position now is very different to the situation she was in two years ago.

"There's a glimmer of hope for real rehabilitation.

"She was in a hostel for women who are victims of abuse, effectively, and she was on state benefits and her mental state was very poor and continues to be amatter of concern.

"But she now has her own accommodation and runs a business where she provides cleaners into people's caravans, homes and trailers and it's doing very well despite the pandemic."