Nurse had a 'very promising career' until she tried to make some more cash

Levi Whalley and pal Sophie Bannister were both caught out

A nurse is set to be struck off after being caught trying to smuggle cannabis into the UK. Levi Whalley and her friend Sophie Bannister, both aged 30, were stopped by Border Force officials at Birmingham International Airport following a supposed shopping trip to New York in December 2023.

However, their luggage revealed heat-sealed bags that Whalley initially claimed she believed contained luxury watches but was found to contain cannabis. She admitted she knew it was illegal to bring the drugs into the UK.

Both women made no comment during their interviews but later pleaded guilty to the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition.

After informing her employers, Whalley faced an interim suspension order from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on February 27, 2024, preventing her from practising as a nurse while the drug smuggling investigation continued.

On April 2, her barrister Ian Whithurst addressed Preston Crown Court, highlighting that since her arrest, Whalley has cared for her now-deceased mother and become a single parent to a young child.

He added that she had "lost a very promising career", reports Lancs Live.

"She self-reported immediately to her employers", he said. "At the end of these proceedings, there will be a final hearing [with the NMC], which will remove her from the nursing profession."

Pair stopped by officials at the airport

Preston Crown Court heard how Whalley, from Blackburn, was approached by Bannister to take part in the plan to bring drugs into the UK.

The pair, both 30, exchanged text messages discussing the money they could make from their trip to New York.

Sitting side by side in the dock, the women held hands and sobbed as the court heard how they had attempted to bring the drugs into the UK. In December 2023, Bannister and Whalley told Border Force officials at Birmingham Airport they had been on a three-day shopping trip to the Big Apple.

Both women said they had packed their own cases and knew it was illegal to bring drugs into the country. But when their luggage was checked, officers found 34 heat sealed packages containing 16.5kg of cannabis in Bannister's case and a further 39 packages containing 19kg of cannabis in Whalley's case.

The drugs in Bannister's case had an estimated street value of £40,500 and Whalley's were estimated at £121, 500.

Judge Richard Archer handed Whalley a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months with 10 rehabilitation days and 80 hours of unpaid work. He said she played a 'lesser role' in the offence. Bannister was handed a 20 months suspended sentence for 18 months with 30 days rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Judge 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."

Whalley and Bannister, of Cotton Lane, Withington, will return to Preston Crown Court later this year to face a Proceeds of Crime hearing.

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