A woman was caught on CCTV smuggling drugs into a North East prison by hiding them inside her body before passing them to an inmate during a visit, a court has heard.
Shelley Richardson admitted taking a banned item into HMP Northumberland during a prison visit in March last year, after being given the drugs in a pub and pressured into delivering them for money while she was battling a heroin addiction.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Richardson attended the prison on March 23, 2024. Prosecutor Antonia Adie said CCTV footage showed Richardson removing an item from her clothing and placing it on a table during the visit, where it was picked up by a male prisoner and concealed in his trousers.
Prison staff intervened shortly afterwards and Richardson admitted the package contained drugs, although she claimed she did not know exactly what type. When later interviewed by police, she accepted she believed the package contained Class A drugs.
Richardson, 55, of Saxon Way in Jarrow, pleaded guilty to conveying a prohibited article into prison. The offence was admitted on the basis that she was pressured into carrying the drugs by others and was vulnerable due to her long-standing addiction.
The court was told Richardson had been handed the package in a pub and concealed it internally before attending the prison. The prisoner who received the item was strip-searched, but the drugs were not recovered.
Richardson has more than 100 previous convictions. Despite this, the court heard she has since made progress in addressing her addiction and has been drug-free for several months.
Sentencing Richardson via video link from prison, Judge Julie Clemitson imposed a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. She told Richardson she accepted the offence had occurred during a relapse into drug use after returning to old associates.
The judge said: “You took a package into Northumberland Prison because you were pressured into doing so. You have shown real remorse and insight into the harm drugs cause.”
Defending Richardson, Robin Patton said she had spent decades being exploited due to her addiction and described the offence as another example of that exploitation. He added that she had demonstrated a genuine commitment to staying drug-free and rebuilding her life.
Richardson was not jailed immediately and will now be supervised in the community under the suspended sentence conditions.