A mum narrowly avoided a prison sentence after her drug smuggling skills let her down.
An amateur attempt to conceal crushed diazepam pills within a greetings card resulted in a day in court for Natasha Smith.
Staff at Perth Prison noticed something was awry with the condolence message as they made a routine check of the mail on September 19 last year.
After taking a closer look, they realised something was hidden between the inner and outer layers of the card. A quantity of blue powder was discovered and sent to a police laboratory for forensic examination.
When the results revealed it was the class C drug diazepam, the sympathy card was tested for fingerprints and officers were soon able to trace Smith.
Her solicitor told the court that his client had been doing a “good turn” for her boyfriend’s mother, who was ill in hospital.
“She was beside herself because her son was being threatened in prison and she was under orders to send these drugs to him,” he said.
“Smith was in a relationship with the son of this lady and, in the past, this lady had been kind to her in monetary terms because both of them were heroin addicts.
“She felt this would be a favour returned if she was to do something there was no personal gain for her.
“She admitted she could simply have refused to do this, but, in a warped sense, this is a case of her attempting to do a good deed or return a favour for someone.”
He described his client’s attempt at concealing the drugs within the condolence card as a “botched, shabby job”.
He added: “To be perfectly honest, goodness knows what she thought she was doing. It appeared that she took the sticky bit off the card and tried to hide 10 crushed tablets inside.
“She wasn’t doing this with her eyes completely shut, however.”
Perth Sheriff Court was told that this was the first offence Smith, of St Thomas Crescent in Arbroath, had committed since her child was born several months earlier.
The 25-year-old told social workers that she was “very concerned” about what would happen to the toddler if she was sent to jail.
Her solicitor continued: “This is a stupid thing she has done and she is utterly ashamed.
“She fears this could undo all the good work she has done ridding herself of her drug problem. She has been taking methadone since she was five months pregnant and is preparing to embark on a reduction programme.”
The court also heard how Smith has now turned to the Church of Scotland to atone for her past sins, which include an earlier attempt to take drugs into prison.
She joined the church in Arbroath and has been described as an “active part of the community”, even helping out with a mother and baby group, as well as volunteering on a regular basis.
Smith admitted that on September 19 last year, at HMP Perth, Edinburgh Road, and elsewhere unknown, she was concerned in the supply of diazepam.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher warned the accused it was “almost inevitable” that she would end up in prison if she continued offending, but said he had taken her efforts to turn her life around into account.
He made her the subject of a community payback order with a supervision requirement of one year, as well as ordering her to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.