Client Avoids Prison After Sending Drugs Into Prison

Case study summary

Our client pleaded guilty to sending a quantity of drugs and mobile phones into a prison. Despite the serious nature of the offences, our thorough preparation meant that she avoided an immediate prison sentence despite this being the usual outcome for these types of cases.

Case study

Our client was charged with sending drugs and mobile phones into a prison. She posted a parcel containing the prohibited items and, once it was received by the prison, it was intercepted. The offences were serious and the evidence which linked the parcel to our client was strong. A further difficulty we faced was that she had a previous conviction for perverting the course of justice, namely assisting her partner in relation to a different offence, and she had received a suspended sentence for this.

During our initial conference with our client, she accepted sending the parcel but she stated that she did not know what was inside. We spent many hours carefully building a relationship with her and she trusted us enough to eventually disclose years worth of abuse that she had faced which is something she had never previously discussed with anyone. Our client explained that she had been told to post the parcel by her partner and, due to the nature of the relationship, she did what she was told.

The court was initially of the opinion that our client was to blame because she had remained in a relationship with her partner. However, we explained on numerous occasions that it is not easy for victims of domestic abuse to leave their abuser and we highlighted all of the issues that come with being in an abusive relationship. For our client in particular, the last time she tried to leave her partner, she received a warning from the police which informed her that there was a real threat to her life due to intelligence which they had received relating to her partner. It was unreasonable for the court to blame her for not leaving the relationship sooner.

We instructed an experienced and trusted barrister to represent our client and at the sentence hearing. An immediate prison sentence was highly likely but they relayed all of the strong material we had obtained in relation to domestic abuse and our client's personal mitigation in an attempt to avoid this outcome.

The Judge stated that these cases almost always result in an immediate prison sentence due to the seriousness but, thanks to the mitigation we advanced, she was willing to depart from this on this occasion. Our client received a suspended prison sentence which meant that she avoided a lengthy period in custody and was free to return home to her young children instead. She was extremely relieved with the result.