Pregnant mum arrested for drug smuggling while visiting boyfriend in jail

Daily Record

28-04-2025

A mum was arrested at a prison - as she visited her boyfriend at the jail. Katie Carter was visiting Paul Cordingley when she was detained for smuggling drugs. The 28-year-old had cannabis hidden on her when she made the visit to the jail. The contraband was hidden inside the hollowed out soles of a pair of Nike trainers. She had taken the footwear for him to wear inside the jail . Their ill-fated relationship was said to have been the "catalyst" for her descent into crime, the mum to a 17-month-old baby having apparently been "acting in his thrall". She had stood in the dock alongside him just days days before she was caught with the drugs, but was spared jail while he was locked up. But she threw away the second chance she was given by smuggling a stash of cannabis into HMP Altcourse , Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon. Liverpool Echo reports that Carter was previously handed an 18-month imprisonment suspended for two years on April 4 2023 for two class A drug supply offences, while her partner Paul Cordingley received an immediate jail sentence during the same hearing. Sixteen days later, on April 20, the 28-year-old visited him in custody at Altcourse prison, bringing with her a number of items of clothing for him to wear while serving this term, including a pair of Nike React trainers. But Derek Jones, prosecuting, described how, when scanned by an X-ray machine, prison officers "noticed something amiss" and found that the soles of each shoe had been "hollowed out", with quantities of cannabis resin being hidden inside them. One was found to contain 65.3g of the class B drug with 30.8g in the other, substances with a street value of between £950 and £1,400. Under interview, Carter, of Cranage Avenue in Handforth, Cheshire, told detectives that she "knew nothing about the presence of the drugs". Mr Jones added: "She does appear to be in the thrall of Mr Cordingley." The case before Chester Crown Court in the spring of 2023 for being concerned in the supply of class A drugs represents Carter's only previous brush with the law, with the sentencing hearing falling on the same day that she learned of her pregnancy. Callum Ross, defending, told the court: "She accepts and respects the finding of the jury. She stands by what she said in terms of her explanation. "The crown's case was that she had been persuaded and pressured into her involvement. The jury were sure that she knew what she was doing. There is no suggestion that she benefited financially from this operation. "From April 2023 until now, she has stayed out of trouble. That suspended sentence, since then, has had a chance to bite and has been hanging over her head while she has remained out of trouble. "She now has a child. She is the sole carer to him. She has been working diligently with social services to retain custody of her baby and to ensure that her son's needs are met. She does that, albeit with assistance, as a single parent. "He would suffer a significant impact if his mother were to be sent to prison. There is a very different side to this defendant, a positive, hard working, kind, caring, resourceful woman who tries to give back to society and has done in her years of work. "She recognises now, albeit late in the day, the impact that Mr Cordingley has had on her. She has ended that relationship. She has had support and assistance from a women's refuge. "To put it bluntly, she has recognised that, before she met Mr Cordingley, she was a woman of good character. He was, in my submission, the catalyst in removing her good character and causing her offending behaviour. "She has cut him out, and that will benefit her in the future. You honour will have read about her mental health difficulties." Carter was found guilty of conveying a prohibited article into a prison following a trial. Appearing in the dock wearing a black blazer over a white top, she held her head back and closed her eyes before nodding as she was jailed for a year. Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "Case law establishes that immediate custody is usually necessary in cases where drugs are smuggled into prison. There are significant mitigating features that make this a sad case. "You now have a one-year-old child. Fortunately, you and your child have lived with your parents and they can continue with his care if you are absent. "Nevertheless, the court acknowledges the punishment that you would feel if you were separated and that that must have a negative impact on your child. "I note that you were of previous good character before you became involved with Mr Cordingley, and I am satisfied that he is largely responsible for both sets of offences. "You performed the community requirements of the suspended sentence order very well. You have your mental health problems and there was a delay of about a year before you were charged with these offences. "Although the delay since then was largely caused by your denial. For those reasons, the sentence I am going to pass is significantly lower than it might otherwise have been. "Although there is strong personal mitigation, a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and although custody will have a harmful impact on others, I cannot conclude that the sentence can properly be suspended in this case."