A WOMAN who tried to smuggle drugs into a prison was spared a spell behind bars herself as she is vulnerable and was preyed upon.

Natalie Leeming was said to have "mixed in social circles she would not normally mix in" before being talked into taking part in the scheme.

The 25-year-old was described by her barrister as "a typical sort of person" who would be targeted to carry out such an "inappropriate" job.

She had been beaten up in the past, was in an abusive relationship and had been threatened with violence unless she took in the drugs.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Leeming was caught with the five buprenorphine tablets as soon as she entered Holme House in Stockton.

She was visiting with an inmate's girlfriend and had the pills hidden in her boot, prosecutor Emma Atkinson told Judge Neil Davey, QC.

She later told police she was approached near the jail and told how to get away with smuggling - or she would be "done in".

Duncan McReddie, mitigating, said: "She initially resisted these attempts, but then threats started to follow.

"She thought if she did not comply she would continually be looking over her shoulder. It was a guileless attempt and she was apprehended.

"She is a young woman who was mixing in social circles she would not normally mix in. There has been no problem in her life with drugs.

"She accepts that at times of distress and emotional turmoil, she turns to drink. She had been in an abusive relationship and the person she stabbed had several convictions for assaulting her before that particular incident. She fell into that abusive relationship at a very young age.

"That history turned Natalie Leeming into a highly impressionable and vulnerable young woman."

Leeming, of South Road, Norton, admitted a charge of conveying a prohibited article into prison and was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year, with supervision.

Judge Davey told her he was taking an unusual step by not locking her up - even though she turned up with a suitcase expecting custody.

He said: "This causes massive problems in prison. It is not simply a health problem, giving prohibited drugs to drug addicts in prison is never a good idea.

"The real problem is it causes real problems for the authorities for disorder and discipline because drugs are used as currency and people will do all sorts of things to get hold of currency in prison."