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Lawyer jailed for smuggling drugThu Apr 19 13:30:13 UTC 2007 |
Solicitor smuggled drugs in braThu Apr 19 21:20:28 UTC 2007 |
| A solicitor has been jailed for 15 months for smuggling cannabis in her bra for a client in custody. | A solicitor has been jailed for 15 months for smuggling cannabis in her bra for a client in custody. |
| Daniela Scotece, of Sheridan Way, Nottingham, tried to smuggle £15-worth of the drug in her underwear. | Daniela Scotece, of Sheridan Way, Nottingham, tried to smuggle £15-worth of the drug in her underwear. |
| The 31-year-old admitted a charge of possessing the drug with intent to supply at an earlier hearing at Derby Crown Court. | The 31-year-old admitted a charge of possessing the drug with intent to supply at an earlier hearing at Derby Crown Court. |
| Scotece hid it as she went to meet Emmanuel Samuels, 22, at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on 31 August 2006. | Scotece hid it as she went to meet Emmanuel Samuels, 22, at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on 31 August 2006. |
Samuels, who is currently serving a prison sentence for another drugs offence, admitted aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring Scotece to possess the cannabis with intent to supply. | Samuels, from St Ann's in Nottingham, is currently serving a prison sentence for another drugs offence and has admitted aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring Scotece to possess the cannabis with intent to supply. |
| Calls monitored | Calls monitored |
The lawyer has since lost her job as result of the court case. | |
| A call by the convicted drug dealer to Scotece was picked up by authorities monitoring calls at Leicester Prison last August. | A call by the convicted drug dealer to Scotece was picked up by authorities monitoring calls at Leicester Prison last August. |
| He gave her the message, "Make sure my daughter is wrapped up tight when you take her to bed." | He gave her the message, "Make sure my daughter is wrapped up tight when you take her to bed." |
A few days later, when his solicitor visited him in custody at Bridewell police suite at Nottingham Magistrates, a sniffer dog detected drugs - and Scotece was subsequently found to be carrying cannabis hidden in her bra. | A few days later, when his solicitor visited him in custody at Bridewell police suite at Nottingham Magistrates Court, a sniffer dog detected drugs - and Scotece was subsequently found to be carrying cannabis hidden in her bra. |
| Her defence said she had been under pressure to supply the drugs and was in an abusive relationship at the time. |
| 'No conception' |
| However, Judge Andrew Hamilton said people who took drugs into prison must expect a jail sentence themselves. |
| He said this case was made worse by the fact Scotece was a solicitor and said she had brought the whole legal profession into disrepute. |
| Scotece has since lost her job as result of the case and representatives from the Nottingham firm of solicitors where she had worked were in court to see her sentenced. |
| "We really had no conception that there was anything of this nature afoot," said Digby Johnson of the Johnson Partnership. |
| "When I say that I don't just mean the issue of taking the drugs into the cell block but some of the things that were happening in Daniela's life that have come to light since." |
