A pub manager has been jailed after smuggling cannabis sweets and mobile phone SIM cards into a South Wales prison during a visit to her boyfriend.
Montana Robertson, 23, was caught attempting to bring prohibited items into HMP Parc, a category B prison in Bridgend, after concealing the drugs and three SIM cards in her mouth.
The case was heard at Newport Crown Court, where prosecutors said Robertson was stopped and searched by prison staff during a visit, leading to her immediate arrest.
Following her detention, police searched Robertson’s home and recovered cannabis jellies and cannabis gelato with an estimated street value of £70.
Prosecutor Kathryn Lane told the court that Robertson claimed she had acted under peer pressure, adding that the defendant accepted she was old enough to understand the seriousness of her actions.
Robertson pleaded guilty to two counts of bringing prohibited articles into a prison and one count of possession of cannabis.
Defence counsel Nigel Fryer told the court that Robertson had been the manager of a pub in Cardiff but had lost her job as a result of the conviction. He described the situation as a tragedy for a young woman who had previously led a stable life and had aspirations to run her own business.
The court heard that Robertson was no longer in a relationship with the prisoner she had been visiting and that character references submitted on her behalf spoke highly of her conduct prior to the offence. She had also been studying for an Open University qualification at the time.
Sentencing Robertson, Judge Matthew Porter-Bryant said her actions were motivated by “misplaced loyalty” towards her former partner. He acknowledged that she had shown genuine remorse and accepted that she had lost a respectable career in the pub trade as a result of her actions.