Jail for drug smuggling mothers

Two Wolverhampton mothers have been jailed for five months for smuggling three kilos of cannabis into the country.

The women had hidden the drugs using false bottoms in their wheeled bags.

Patricia Brown, 24, and her 22 year-old cousin Stacey Hailey were caught with around £10,000 worth of the drug at Heathrow Airport in July last year.

The pair admitted the offence at Isleworth Crown Court in London on Friday.

Brown, from Johnson Road in Blakenhall and Hailey, from Lime Street, Penn, had just returned from a family funeral in Jamaica, the court heard.

Teachers' worry over drug tests

Teachers have expressed concern about Tony Blair's plan to allow random drugs tests on school children.

Head teachers will have the power to offer treatment to young users, exclude them or report offenders to police.

The head of the NASUWT teaching union said testing was a "last resort", which could alter the relationship between teacher and pupil.

Another teachers' leader said the proposals may lead to legal action by pupils against staff.

However a parents' group said it was "cautiously positive" about the plans, which will be introduced in the form of guidelines for schools in England next month.

Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary of NASUWT, said drug testing would be a "very big step" for any head teacher to take.

Child demonstrates drug injection

A three-year-old girl shocked police officers during a drugs raid by showing them how her mother injected heroin.

Durham Police said the child graphically demonstrated what she had been exposed to in the house in the village of Horden.

A force spokesman said the girl was living in was "deplorable" conditions.

He confirmed her mother has been held on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs and later released on bail pending further inquiries.

When officers raided the home in the former mining village they found several children in the property where syringes, tin foil and other drug paraphernalia were visible.

The children were all placed in the care of relatives.

The spokesman added: "Officers were so concerned by what they found, with needles and drugs in easy reach of the children.

"They said it was frightening when a three-year-old demonstrated to the police what mummy did with the drugs.

Pub drinkers tested for drugs

Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.

The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.

Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."