A WOMAN who tried to smuggle 30 prescription painkillers into prison hidden in her mouth, was herself sent to jail yesterday for three months.

Nicola Lloyd, 23, of Sedgemoor Road, Bankfields, Eston, Teesside, admitted possessing a Class C drug with intent on August 15 last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Robert Galley, prosecuting, told the court the mother-of-two and former heroin addict had been caught trying to smuggle the drug to an inmate at Holme House Prison, where she was attending as a visitor.

When staff became suspicious, he said, she tried to swallow the clingfilm-wrapped parcel in her mouth and began to choke.

Mr Galley told the court Lloyd had told police she had bought the tablets for £20 three weeks before and the inmate intended to receive the drugs might "have been able to exchange them for phone cards or money."

David Lamb, for Lloyd, said his client had owed £150 and was unable to pay the debt and as a result,her home became targeted, having windows smashed and threats made to her.

She was told, he said, that if she took the drugs into the prison, her debt would effectively be cleared. He said: "She did it out of panic."

Jailing her for three months, Judge Peter Fox QC said: "I have made the sentence as short as possible, for the sake of your children. But people who try to smuggle drugs into prison must themselves go to prison."