Mum-Of-Three Smuggled £100,000 Of Cannabis Into The UK To Fund Treatments For ‘Beauty Obsession’

A British mum-of-three has been jailed for 23 months after attempting to smuggle 48.75kg of cannabis (around £100,000 worth) into the UK from Thailand.

Nicole Hutchinson, 25, was busted at Manchester Airport alongside her buddy Kia Underwood, 28, both carrying two suitcases containing vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis – 24.75kg in Hutchinson’s and 24kg in Underwood’s.

At Manchester Crown Court, Hutchinson begged for a suspended sentence, claiming she had been offered £10,000 to smuggle the drugs into the UK, which she needed as she was ‘in debt with electricity and Wi-Fi.’

She also claimed to have undiagnosed ADHD and suffered plus bouts of anxiety plus ‘impulsivity and restlessness’.  

Hutchinson, who repeatedly interrupted court proceedings, also confessed to needing cash for her beauty treatment addiction (a result of her ADHD and anxiety), as she ‘was obsessed with how she looks’.

Unfortunately, the judge wasn’t feeling sympathetic: ‘Whilst I am satisfied Nicole Hutchinson he was acting under the direction of Kai Underwood and potentially of others, her agreed basis of plea showed she carried out the enterprise for a reward of £10,000. There was in any view a significant financial gain.

‘It follows that in passing sentences in such cases as these, deterrence must play an important part.’

As Hutchinson was led away to start a 23 months jail term, she burst into tears in the dock and yelled: ‘You f*****g b*****d’ at one of her accomplices. 

Her accomplices, including Underwood (below), do sound like absolute morons, to be fair. One incriminating image found on his phone showed him holding large wads of cash with a caption reading: ‘Not a bad week’s wage and free holiday expenses paid for included – that joy when you earn someone’s annual salary in a week.’

Another accomplice, Brandon Loben, 27, (below) had a video on his phone in which he bragged: ‘Why am I in Thailand, I live here now, I get paid f*****g 250 baht a day yeah to literally sit here like this yeah blasting, drinking tinnies and smoking joints.’

Online searches on the device showed the phrases: ‘For what reasons would airport search luggage’ and ‘do airline search inside lost luggage.’ Smart!

In mitigation for Hutchinson, who also admitted nine unrelated charges of assault on police, resisting arrest plus an offence of battery, her lawyer Martin Sharpe said: ‘A report comments on her impulsivity and restlessness and referred to how she was obsessed with how she looks, and uses beauty treatments.

‘She was someone struggling with finances, approximately £10,000 in debt with electricity and Wi-Fi and impulsively accepted this opportunity which she saw to recoup £10,000.

‘A friend had approached asking if she wanted to earn money, he having engaged three times previously and not been arrested. o someone who behaves impulsively this was a carrot on a stick for her. We submit the defendant should be given a suspended sentence.’

Dad-of-two Underwood, from Bradford, admitted two charges of cannabis importation and jailed for three years and two months. 

Loben, 27, from Doncaster, admitted illegal importation and was jailed for 17 months.

For the British pensioner facing life in prison after he was found with £200,000 of meth in Chile, click HERE.