Naivety 'is relevant to length of drugs jail terms'

People who smuggle drugs will face more lenient sentences if they have been exploited, under new guidelines.

The change in approach on "drug mules" forms part of new comprehensive rules on drugs offences from the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

The council said judges should distinguish between those who have been exploited by gangs and criminals heavily involved in the drugs trade.

District Judge Anne Arnold, from the Sentencing Council, said that naivety, culpability and harm should all be taken into account when sentences are decided.