A WOMAN who tried to smuggle £6,000 worth of drugs into prison has been jailed after a sniffer dog detected them inside her body.

Clare Revill was bullied into making the trip to Channings Wood prison near Newton Abbot by a drugs gang in Bristol who she was in debt to.

She was taken to a toilet by prison staff after the dog identified her as a suspect and produced a large package containing a total of 55 grams of drugs.

It included crack cocaine, heroin, and two types of cannabis, which would have had a combined street value of around £3,000 but would be worth at least double that inside prison.

She had been intending to hand them over to her boyfriend, who she was visiting, by removing them from her body and putting them into a crisp packet.

Revill, aged 36, of Cranbrook Road, Bristol, admitted possession of class A and B drugs with intent to supply and was jailed for two years and three months by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court.

He told her: ‘This case is aggravated by the fact that it was supply into prison and by the sheer quantity of drugs. It was an awful lot of drugs which were worth an awful lot of money.

‘Drugs in prison totally undermine good order and discipline. They have a currency and often lead to violence which endangers prison officers and prisoners.’

Mr Paul Grumbar, prosecuting, said Revill was asked if she was carrying anything illegal after being identified by a drugs dog and then escorted to a female toilet where she extracted a package from her vagina.

It contained 55 grams of heroin, crack cocaine, herbal cannabis and resin with street values of around £3,000 but potential value in prison of well over £6,000. The most valuable drug was the crack, which could sell for up to £4,250 inside.

Revill was not arrested at the time she was caught on February 15, 2020 because police were busy dealing with flooding from Storm Dennis, but was picked up later.

Mr Nigel Wraith, defending, said Revill was a drug user who built up a debt after being offered credit and then told she owed interest.

She was threatened with violence while living in a hostel in Bristol and feared she would be attacked while visiting her three children, who lived with her family elsewhere in the city.

She was picked up by a woman and two men, handed the package, and driven to Devon to deliver it and felt she was left with no option.

She is a former care worker who hopes to be able to resume her career after sorting out her mental health and drug issues.