A CHILDMINDER was picked out by a sniffer dog as she tried to smuggle drugs hidden in her knickers to her boyfriend in prison.

Tamsyn Beck was identified by a drugs dog carrying £20 worth of cannabis into HMP Hewell in Tardebigge on December 20 last year.

The 26-year-old admitted conveying a list A article into prison when she appeared before Judge Nicholas Cole at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday (June 29).

Charles Hamer, prosecuting, said the drugs were hidden between her underwear and the waistband of her leggings, the smell disguised using pepper.

She was taking them to her boyfriend Jordan Ramsay who had applied 'subtle pressure' on her.

Mohammad Hafeez, defending, said she had no previous convictions and asked for credit for her early guilty plea.

Beck, of Dunchurch Road in Rugby, had formed a relationship with Ramsay, who was serving a prison sentence for section 18 wounding after cutting someone's ear with a machete.

She suffered from anxiety and depression and had lost six stone in weight, Mr Hafeez told the court. She also suffered a miscarriage in July 2016.

He said she had received phone calls from unknown people asking her to take drugs to her partner in prison.

"She is a vulnerable but pleasant lady whose emotions overcame her good sense. As far as she is concerned that is the end of that relationship," he said.

Judge Cole said there was a need for a deterrent sentence to send a clear message.

He said: "Prisons are there to punish offenders but also to help to rehabilitate them to ensure when they come out they do not reoffend.

"The ongoing problem with drugs in prison is well known to all. It means those who have gone into prison with drug habits find it harder to break that habit.

"It leads to fights, extortion and bullying within the prison system."

He sentenced her to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months.

Beck will also be placed on an electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 7am daily and must complete a 20-day rehabilitation course.