Two drugs mules who were caught trying to smuggle £160,000 worth of cannabis into the UK lived a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle, posting pictures of themselves on holidays in Thailand, Greece and Spain, can reveal.
Pals Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley, both 30, from Blackburn, were snared with 35kg of the Class B drug in their luggage as they returned from a trip to New York in December 2023.
The pair, who have both been handed suspended sentences, tried to tell border officials at Birmingham International Airport they had been on a three-day shopping trip to the Big Apple.
However, text messages between Bannister and Whalley later revealed they had become involved in a lucrative plot to import cannabis into the UK.
Now, photos posted to both women’s social media accounts prior to their arrests show them enjoying a series of lavish holidays across the globe.
Bannister and Whalley travelled to New York in October 2023, two months before they were caught with the drugs, and shared snaps of themselves visiting tourist sites across the city.
In one Instagram story, Whalley who was a nurse but has since been suspended, can be seen on a bus tour and later at the Statue of Liberty.
And in another Bannister is pictured posing with a Starbucks cup in the iconic Times Square.
Other glamorous holiday snaps show the friends on trips away to places such as Marbella, Thailand and Greece in 2023.
In one, Whalley is posing in a green bikini on a boat off Pi Pi Island and in a second Bannister can be seen outside of a hotel on the Spanish party island of Ibiza.
Bannister and Whalley appeared at Preston Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for drug smuggling.
The court heard that when their luggage was checked as they returned from New York on December 9, 2023, officers found more than 70 sealed packages of cannabis.
The drugs in Bannister’s suitcase had an estimated street value of £40,500 and Whalley’s were estimated at £121,500.
The hearing was told that both women were vulnerable to exploitation due to their own personal and financial circumstances.
Since their arrest, neither has committed any other offences and Whalley has become a mother to a young baby, the court heard.
Bannister and Whalley later pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition and appeared at Preston Crown Court today to be sentenced.
Judge Richard Archer, sentencing, said: ‘You were both aware that having travelled from New York to Birmingham via Paris that you had in your respective suitcases a significant quantity of heat sealed bags, containing 35.5kg of cannabis.
‘This was not your cannabis but cannabis you were carrying on behalf of another but you were expecting significant financial advantage for doing what you did.
‘You discussed it in relation to this particular trip to New York, with a clear view of the money you were going to make from behaving this way.
‘You perhaps had little regard to the seriousness or consequences of your offending. It must have been in the back of your mind that you would be caught but you probably thought very little about sitting in the dock this afternoon.
‘I very much hope that you don’t involve yourselves in this behaviour again.’
He sentenced Bannister to 20 months in prison, suspended for 18 months with 30 days of rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.
Whalley was handed a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 10 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.
Taking to social media after walking free from the dock, Bannister said: ‘Thank you for the people who have stood by us [during] truly the most mentally and emotionally challenging times of our life.
’15 months of torture. HUGE lessons learnt. A LOT of tears along the way. But stood by each others side no matter what.
‘A true friendship which will never be broken which was proven today holding hands not knowing the outcome.
‘Finally some closure and moving forward with our life. Ready for the biggest fresh start and realising how important freedom really is. Levi Whalley no matter what people have said we really have an unbreakable friendship.’