A woman tried to smuggle drugs to her partner in prison by hiding them in children's drawings, a court has heard. Chelsea Hill concealed pregabalin powder between two sheets of paper which were stuck together, and then popped them in the post to HMP Swansea.
After the rouse was discovered police found Hill's partner had given her instructions on exactly where in the drawings to hide the drugs so he could easily find them on arrival. A judge at Swansea Crown Court said it was "astonishing" that the prisoner, who had been telling the defendant what to do, had seemingly not been charged with any offence.
Sian Cutter, prosecuting, told the court that in October 2021 a prison officer in HMP Swansea was handed a letter addressed to an inmate which contained a child's drawing - the artwork consisted to two pieces of paper stuck together. An examination of the item showed that between the two sheets was powder which turned out to be 1.29g of pregabalin, a Class C drug.
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Two weeks later an identical item addressed to the same inmate was intercepted in the prison's mailroom - this was also found to contain pregabalin, this time small lumps weighing 1.79g. Subsequent tests showed Hill's fingerprints on both letters.
The court was told police went to the defendant's home near Llanelli where she made admissions that she was only doing what she was told. A search of the house found a box in kitchen containing bags of a synthetic cannabinoid drug worth around £1,240.
Hill was arrested, questioned, and released under investigation while police accessed transcripts of phone calls between her and her partner in Swansea prison. The court heard it became clear from those conversations that the inmate was "encouraging" his partner to send the letters, even telling her to put the drugs under a cloud in drawings so he would know where to find them.
In further conversations the inmate told his partner how to dissolve drugs in liquids and apply them to pieces of paper - the court heard impregnating letters with drugs is a common way of trying to smuggle drugs into prison, with inmates burning and smoking the letters to get a hit.
Chelsea Hill, of Bryn y Felin, Swiss Valley, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conveying a listed article into prison and to possession of a synthetic cannabinoid with intent to supply when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. She had no previous convictions.
Steve Burnell, for Hill, said the defendant was a mother-of-three and suffered with anxiety and depression. He said even while his client had been in court awaiting the sentencing hearing her partner had called her a number of times and in the end the advocate said he had advised his client to turn the mobile off.
Judge Paul Thomas KC told Hill she had done something "incredibly stupid" in trying to smuggle drugs into prison, an act which almost always results in the senders themselves ending up behind bars. He said it was clear from everything he had read that Hill had mental health issues, and that her partner had put her under "immense pressure" to send the letters. The judge said he had concluded that without that pressure being applied, Hill would not have got involved in the enterprise.
With a one-third discount for her guilty pleas Hill was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months, and she was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course. Judge Thomas told her she had avoided going to prison "by the skin of your teeth". The judge added that the delay in the case coming to court was "inexplicable", and he said it was "astonishing" that Hill's partner had apparently not faced any criminal charges in connection with the incident.
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