போதை மருந்து கடத்திய முஸ்லீம் பெண்ணுக்கு சிறை

போதை மருந்து கடத்திய முஸ்லீம் பெண்ணுக்கு சிறை

Jail for Muslim woman who smuggled drugs in her knickers



« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryPublished Date: 12 December 2008
A WOMAN who tried to smuggle drugs with a street value of more than £18,000 into a Leeds prison in her knickers has been jailed for four years.
Atia Ashraf, 24, of Trinity Mount, Blackburn, Lancashire, was stopped by police in Armley Prison in April on her way to visit an inmate.

Ashraf, who was described in court as well-educated and a strict Muslim, had already passed through one set ofADVERTISEMENTprison checks when she was subjected to a second search by West Yorkshire Police officers.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court heard last month how they found 13.2 grammes of heroin, 6.63 grammes of crack cocaine and 0.5 grammes of cannabis with an estimated street value of £18,200.

The drugs 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, known as Naz.

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

Ashraf had been found guilty by a jury last month of two counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and one of possession of class C drugs with intent to supply.

The court was told that she had no previous convictions apart from in relation to driving offences.