Drugs-in-knickers smuggler jailed

A woman who tried to smuggle £18,000 of drugs into a prison in her knickers has been jailed for four years.

Atia Ashraf, 24, of Trinity Mount, Blackburn, Lancashire, was stopped by police at Armley Prison, Leeds, in April on her way to visit an inmate.

A search found 13.2g of heroin, 6.63g of crack cocaine and 0.5g of cannabis, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Ashraf was found guilty last month of possession of class A and class C drugs with intent to supply.

The drugs, which had an estimated street value of £18,200, were found in a sausage-shaped package hidden in the elastic of her pants.

During her trial, Ashraf claimed she thought the packet was a mobile phone.

Her barrister, Amanda Johnson, said she had been led on by one of the inmates.

Sentencing Ashraf, Judge Alistair McCallum said four years was the shortest possible sentence he could give her "in order to dissuade other people minded to do what you tried to do".

The court was told that Ashraf, who was described in court as well-educated and a strict Muslim, had no previous convictions apart from driving offences.