A woman who “became entrenched” in heroin and tried to smuggle around £10,000 of the drug into Perth Prison hasbeen jailed for 32 months.
Perth Sheriff Court was told Michelle Paterson, 33, of Martin Crescent, Ballingry, Fife, had an “abusive relationship” with her partner, an inmate at the jail who asked her to bring the drugs into the prison.
Depute Fiscal Carol Whyte said there were security measures in place in the visiting area of Perth Prison and that CCTV showed the accused acting suspiciously on September 12 last year.
“The accused was seen looking at the ground and also around her breast area,” she said.
“Police were called and they found 7.6 grammes of heroin on the accused.”
Ms Whyte told the court that Paterson attempted a similar offence on September 16 last year, when prison staff had trained drugs dogs there and one dog named Trigger detected something amiss.
“The dog gave a passive identification when the accused passed by,” she added.
“She was observed by officers and police then found two cling-film wraps of drugs concealed in the left-hand cup of the accused’s bra. It was heroin with an estimated prison value of just under £10,000.”
Paterson’s solicitor said his client “acknowledged the error of her ways.”
“The social work report depicts a bleak picture of her life blighted by heroin use,” he said.
“She started smoking the drug but became entrenched in it. She had an abusive relationship with her partner, the inmate she was visiting at Perth Prison, and he had asked her to bring in the drugs.
“My client has paid dearly through her use of heroin.”
Paterson admitted that between September 12 and 16, last year, at HM Perth Prison, Edinburgh Road, Perth, she was concerned in the supply of diamorphine (heroin) – a class A drug.
Sentencing Paterson, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told her: “You have pled guilty to trying to bring a significant quantity of contraband into Perth Prison and you have a previous conviction for misuse of drugs.”
He sentence Paterson to 32 months in jail, backdated to July 5.
