Grandma Caught Smuggling Drugs After Jamaica Holiday

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.”