Inner London Crown Court |
An
Oxford grandmother, caught smuggling £51,000 worth of cannabis after
stepping off a flight from Jamaica, was jailed for two years yesterday.
Margaret
Simms, 57, of Peat Moors lost her good name and 18-year job with
Boots chemists after she was caught at Gatwick Airport.
She
denied, but was convicted by a jury of importing 17 kilos of the drug
on November 19, last year.
“It
is unfortunately my job to sentence you for this offences,”
Recorder Karl King told the first-time offender at Inner London Crown
Court.
“As
you will appreciate it is solely from your commission of this
offence, your conscious decision to participate in this offence that
brings you here.
“You
were aware of what you were doing and you played a role which is more
than minimal.
“You
gave the jury an explanation that you had been a victim of threats,
duress made by security guards at your hotel door, but then told
probation they barged in.
“You
said you thought their words were a joke, but said the day before you
were due to return from Jamaica they returned and said the same thing
and gave you instructions to collect a suitcase.”
The
defendant had flown to the Caribbean to visit her Jamaican husband
Sean Simms, who she married in 2008, and still maintains her
innocence, insisting she was acting under duress.
“Your
husband, who was with you at this time, was not alerted or his family
were not alerted about these two strangers.”
Simms
claimed she was instructed to collect a suitcase, identified by a
unicorn band, when she landed at Gatwick, but it had already been
identified by border Force officers as containing drugs.
Prosecutor
Mr. Francis Gaskin said: “The evidence heard in total about her
role came from the defendant and must have been disbelieved by the
jury.
“There
is no credible evidence of threats or pressure. The prosecution say
she knew exactly what she was doing and was motivated by financial
gain.”
Simms'
lawyer Mr. George Hepburne Scott told the court: “There is no
evidence at all of money or a criminal lifestyle.
“Up
until now she has been a law-abiding, hard-working taxpayer. She has
lost her dignity.
“She
has been exploited, you may think, to some extent through naivety.
She's perhaps been used to some extent by those who would have made
far more.
“The
prosecution have searched her home and her bank accounts and there is
no evidence of Rolex watches, jewellery or cash-counting machines.
“They
are conspicuous by their absence. She doesn't seem to have had any
financial gain.”
Recorder
King told Simms: “I have come to the conclusion you were an active
participant and you have concocted a story to deflect your role and
involvement in this offence.
“There
is not any sense of regret or remorse on your part.”
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