Woman 'coerced' into smuggling drugs in prison

Sarah Brown tried to take drugs into HMP Holme House in Stockton

A woman who attempted to smuggle drugs into a prison under pressure from her abusive partner has been sentenced.

Sarah Brown was caught with a packet of five buprenorphine tablets at HMP Holme House in Stockton in August 2022, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 38-year-old admitted conveying the Class C drugs into prison and said she was doing it for her partner who was a serving inmate.

Brown, of Chadburn Green in Middlesbrough, was given a 12-month community order, including 50 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecutor Jenny Haigh said the tablets were worth £1 each but in a prison would sell for between £60 and £200 each, with Brown's total haul valued at between £300 and £1,000.

'Coerced'

Brown was visiting her partner in Holme House on the afternoon of 16 August 2022 and nothing was found when she was originally searched, Ms Haigh said.

But as she sat at a table in a waiting area, staff noticed her "acting suspiciously", the prosecutor said.

She was asked to remove her jacket which she took off and laid across her knee, prompting a small plastic packet containing the tablets to fall to the ground.

Brown told police she was "coerced and felt under pressure" from her partner and her financial situation, Ms Haigh said.

Brown said she had been with the man since she was 15 and it had been a "lengthy" and "difficult" relationship involving physical and emotional abuse.

She said he told her he would be beaten up if she did not get him the drugs and she would be paid £100 if she completed the deal, although she never received any money, the court heard.

'Serious offence'

In mitigation, Tom Bennett said Brown had never been in trouble with the law before and her conviction now left her dreams of running her own pub in tatters.

Recorder Abdul Iqbal KC said the high value of the drugs in prison showed the "danger" they posed and taking illegal substances into a custodial environment would "always be a serious offence".

Brown was also ordered to pay £300 prosecution costs.