One of the two Blackburn women who were arrested in Birmingham after more than 35kg of cannabis was found in their luggage has told her side of the story on This Morning – but viewers were less than impressed.
Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley, both 30, were intercepted when they returned to the UK after what appeared to be a whirlwind girls’ trip to New York City but they had, in reality, and they say unwittingly, become drug mules.
The duo stood accused of attempting to import a hefty cannabis consignment – £40,500 worth in Bannister’s suitcase and £121,500 in Whalley’s – and make ‘a lot’ of money from it.
Now, Levi has given her version of events, recalling how her friend Sophie was approached by a woman in Marbella and offered the all-expenses paid trip if they agreed to bring back ‘two suitcases of watches’.
Those ‘watches’ turned out to be copious amounts of marijuana in bags that were heat-sealed and stowed in the pair’s suitcases, before being discovered upon their landing in the UK.
This Morning presenter Sian Welby observed: ‘It feels very frustrating that in some ways it was all for social media, the pictures. You had an incredible career path, a nurse, a midwife. Was it almost this strange societal pressure?
‘As you say, not many people are going to feel sorry for you in this situation. Some of it feels obvious it was going to happen… However, you did do it. You’re not the first person to make a mistake in life. What was that urge?’
Levi said: ‘I think it’s the society we live in today. It’s all an image. Reflecting back on my life now, I see it totally differently.
‘At the time, this image looked glamorous, my life now, I’m quieter. I want to take a different route in things.
‘It was just today I wanted to speak my side of the story about it. I want to make awareness to people.’
Not all viewers were sympathetic to Levi’s side of the story.
One viewer wrote on X: ‘This woman brings in 19kgs of drugs and is on the telly?’
Another added: ‘I still don’t have sympathy for her.’
‘Stop platforming criminals,’ one said.
The drugs in Bannister’s case had an estimated street value of £40,500 and Whalley’s were estimated at £121,500.
Later, both women pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition and appeared at Preston Crown Court to be sentenced.
The court heard both women, who claim they were groomed by international drug smugglers, were vulnerable to exploitation due to their own personal and financial circumstances.
Since their arrest, neither has committed any other offences and Whalley has become a mother to a young baby, the court heard.
He sentenced Bannister, now living in Cotton Lane, Manchester, to 20 months suspended for 18 months with 30 days rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.
Whalley, of Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, was handed a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 10 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.
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