A drug courier who was caught with more than 30kg of cannabis at Manchester Airport has been spared jail after the judge took pity on her difficult childhood.
Cannabis mule Kiala Wyles, 22, sobbed uncontrollably as Recorder Jeremy Lasker told her he would not be sending her to prison straight away after she admitted a single charge of importing class B drugs.
But the judge even admitted that he may be making ‘the wrong decision’ by letting her walk free – and that his leniency could even encourage other would-be couriers to take a chance.
He said: ”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.’
Wyles had been given a free holiday to Thailand and promised £10,000 in cash by drug barons in exchange for agreeing to transport the drugs from the Far East.
But she was caught red-handed by Border Force officials as she touched back down in Britain on July 24 this year.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Wyles, a care home worker from Stirling in Scotland, had flown out of Edinburgh Airport and enjoyed three weeks in Thailand.
She then flew back to the UK to Manchester Airport via Dubai, prosecutor Caitlin Stiles said.
Kiala Wyles has avoided jail after admitting to smuggling nearly £80,000 of cannabis into Britain
Wyles, 22, sobbed uncontrollably as she was told she would not be going to prison after a judge took sympathy on her
Wyles had been offered a free holiday in Thailand and £10,000 in cash in exchange for bringing the suitcases back to Britain
When she was stopped by Border Force officials, they found 30.28 kilos of cannabis in 26 vacuum sealed packages stuffed in her two suitcases.
She told the officials she didn’t know the suitcases contained drugs, which had a wholesale of value of £79,000.
She was arrested and during her police interview she said she was contacted by someone on social media who promised she could make £10,000 by collecting the suitcases from Thailand.
Her flights were paid for and she enjoyed a 20-day holiday in Thailand before her return, the court was told.
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 extenuating personal circumstances.
She had been under financial pressure, had been thrown out of her property and her life had ‘spiralled out of control’. She described a troubled upbringing where Wyles’ father had been to prison.
The defendant also suffered from anxiety, depression and a personality disorder, Ms Gatfield told the court.
Mr Recorder Jeremy Lasker accepted that the defendant had shown ‘genuine remorse’, had spent a month in custody and said there was a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’.
The defendant had previous convictions but none for drug offences, the court heard.
Wyles was caught with two suitcases of cannabis as she flew back into Manchester Airport (pictured)
Kiala Wyles agreed to smuggle drugs worth £79,000 in exchange for a free holiday in Thailand (file image)
He 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.
‘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 back home in Scotland.
‘Thank you, Your Honour,’ said Wyles, still crying as she had been throughout the hearing. Her sister, also crying, watched from the public gallery.
Her conviction comes weeks after British mother Cameron Bradford, 24, was also given a two-year suspended sentence for trafficking cannabis from Thailand into Germany.
Ms Bradford, of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, flew from Bangkok to Munich with 20kg of drugs in her luggage.
The court heard she had been threatened by a man and put under pressure to transport the case, which she claimed she did not know contained drugs.
And earlier this month Tihaise Darlin Elisha, 19, and Taylor Tamara Simone, 21, were jailed for six years after being caught with nearly 70kg of cannabis in Zimbabwe while flying from Thailand.
The pair were made to pose with the drugs by police at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport when first caught in May.
