A mum smuggled drugs into a Teesside jail to her boyfriend after he was stabbed and she was told that he would be slashed-up again if she refused.
Charlotte Millward, 35, had received threats to her and her family after her burglar partner upset other inmates in Holme House Prison, Stockton.
She sent her two children to live with her parents and she informed the police, her lawyer told Teesside Crown Court today.
But the slashing threat terrified her into hiding 10 Subutex tablets in her bra which would have been worth £400 to £600 in prison currency.
She had received an email telling her to meet an unknown man on Portrack Lane, Stockton, near the prison who had handed over the clingfilm package.
She stuffed them in her bra but she was seen reaching into it and passing them over to her boyfriend in the Visitors Area on June 11 last year.
Prosecutor Jenny Haigh said that the boyfriend was detained in possession of the Class C drug.
Millward,who had no previous convictions, made full and frank admissions.
Miss Haigh said: “She did not know who had contacted her but she felt obliged to do so because she had been under some pressure.
“She knew when she passed them over that they were drugs.
“She was concerned because she was told that if she did this she would get her boyfriend out of a spot of bother. Inquiries were made and he had been admitted to the Friarage Hospital on December 17 2013 with stab wounds.
“It was intimated to her that her actions may prevent something else occurring.”
Miss Haigh said that the maximum sentence for smuggling drugs into prison was 10 years jail.
Amy Dixon, defending, said that the threats to Millward began in February last year and they were still continuing.
She added: “This male associate of her partner told her that her partner would be slashed-up if she did not take the items into prison.
“She did so because she was terrified of what would happen to her or her family. She realises now that she could have contacted the police but this happened when she was not stable.”
She said that Millward had since separated from her partner and she was now with a man who had no criminal record and they had a positive and stable relationship. She was not likely to trouble the courts again, she added.
The judge told Millward that drugs were a real problem in prison where they had a highly-inflated value and could be used as currency to wield power over vulnerable prisoners and their families.
Judge Peter Bowers said: “Those who are ruthless will target those who are weak and have relatives outside.
“I always start with a prison sentence in every case but in your case I am taking what may be an exceptional course.”
Millward, of Crosby Road, Northallerton, was given a six months jail sentence suspended for 12 months with supervision, 10 sessions of specified activity and 150 hours unpaid work after she pleaded guilty to conveying illicit articles into prison.
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