Kiala Wyles, from Scotland, was caught with £79,000 worth of cannabis which she transported from Thailand to Manchester – she denied responsibility when speaking to border officials
A British care home worker who was promised £10,000 if she transported drugs from Thailand wept in court after she was spared an immediate jail sentence.
Kiala Wyles, 22, from Stirling in Scotland, said someone reached out to her on social media and made her the lucrative offer. She jetted off from Edinburgh Airport and enjoyed a 20-day vacation before she collected two suitcases full of cannabis.
But she was busted by Border Force officials when she disembarked off a flight at Manchester Airport on July 24. She was arrested at the scene and initially denied she knew there were drugs in her bags. Border Force officials found 30kg of cannabis with a wholesale value of £79,000 in 26 vacuum sealed packages stuffed in her two suitcases.
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On Friday, she appeared at Manchester Crown Court, where a judge decided to give her a ‘chance’ after hearing about her troubled childhood.
Olivia Gatfield, defending, said Wyles had played a ‘limited function under direction’, was ‘remorseful and embarrassed’ and that she demonstrated ‘naivety’.
Pleading for the judge to impose a suspended prison sentence, Ms Gatfield said her client, who was a user of cannabis, cocaine and ketamine, had been under financial pressure, had been thrown out of her property and had ‘spiralled out of control’. She described a troubled upbringing where her father had been to prison, Manchester Evening News reports.
The defendant also suffered from anxiety, depression and personality disorder, said Ms Gatfield. Mr Recorder Jeremy Lasker accepted the defendant had shown ‘genuine remorse’, had spent a month in custody and had a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’. The defendant had previous convictions but none for drug offences, the court heard.
The judge continued: “This is one of those rare cases where I’m actually going to give you a chance because I think rehabilitation is a good bet in your case.
“It may be that I’m making the wrong decision. It maybe that I’m giving the green light to other couriers to take the risk because they think if they get caught they may get away with it.
“I’m doing this on the basis not only is your remorse genuine but you have had a taste of prison for a short period of time and when I balance the prospects of rehabilitation against this and sending you back in for several more months potentially damaging your mental health, in this case I’m prepared to give you a second chance.”
Wyles was handed a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years after she admitted a single charge of importing class B drugs. She was also ordered to complete a 12-month community payback scheme in Scotland.