A trans woman who got caught smuggling two suitcases of cannabis into the UK has been been jailed for 18 months.
Keira Borrett, 46, was found carrying 26kgs of the Class B drug in vacuum-sealed packs after arriving at Heathrow Airport.
Isleworth Crown Court heard she had flown from Bangkok, via the United Arab Emirates, after a trip to Thailand.
The court was told she agreed to transport the cannabis in exchange for £10,000 which she wanted to use to pay for gender-affirming surgery.
Borrett, from Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, told police she met a man from Essex by chance in a Bangkok bar.
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She said they chatted about ‘sex change operations and how expensive they were’.
The man then introduced her to two other men, who asked her to take two suitcases back to the UK.
The ‘very heavy’ bags were dropped off by men in an SUV shortly before her flight home on May 23.
Prosecutor Sahra Ali said Borrett had been instructed to take the bags to a hotel on her return to the UK and exchange them for the agreed payment.
Sahra Ali said: ‘She was not under any duress, she did this willingly. There was an expectation of significant financial advance.’
Borrett appeared for sentencing via video link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs, a male prison where she has spent the last three months on remand.
Sebastian Cox, defending, said Borrett being housed in a male prison had affected her ‘entire identity’, forcing her to ‘detransition’, drop the use of her pronouns and wear male clothing.
He unsuccessfully attempted to convinced the judge to suspend any prison sentence, saying: ‘Every day in prison has been harder for her, given her identity.’
He also interruped Sahri Ali, who referred to Borrett using a male pronoun, saying: ‘Ms Borrett identifies as a woman and I’d be grateful if you could address her as such.’
Mr Cox admitted Borrett had shown a ‘lack of judgement’ by agreeing to smuggle the drugs but said it was ‘out of character’ and an ‘isolated incident’.
He added: ‘The offer of money and knowing what it could have done for her life – she made a very silly decision.
‘She is remorseful in the extreme, knowing the impact this has had on her family and friends.’
The court was told Borrett had also gone to Thailand a few months earlier.
Recorder Kate Aubrey-Johnson said, while jailing Borrett for 18 months: ‘Although you say it was an impulsive decision, the fact that you had travelled to Thailand before makes me wonder how much credibility I can give to that.’
She said that Borrett’s claims she did not know what was in the suitcases and that she did not check their contents were questionable.
Recorder Aubrey-Johnson added: ‘You didn’t ask the question, but you must have known they contained something.’
She added that she had taken into account the ‘additional issues’ Borrett faced, considering the Home Office ruled her remand must be in a male prison.
She told Borrett courts had a duty to deter to smugglers, despite her defense’s ‘strong mitigation’.
She added: ‘This is an offence that is prevalent. We know that criminals target individuals to act as couriers.
‘As cannabis has been made legal in other parts of the world, it means these criminal operations are now increasingly looking to bring drugs into the UK.’
In 2022, Thailand was the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis, leading to with an increase in the drug being smuggled into the UK, both by post and by air passengers.
Alex Murray, the National Crime Agency’s director of threat leadership, said: ‘We have been working well with the Thai authorities who are keen to intervene.
‘Couriers should think very carefully about agreeing to smuggle cannabis. There are life-changing consequences.
‘Crime groups can be very persuasive but the risk of getting caught is very high and simply not worth it.’
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