UPDATE: |Women caught smuggling cannabis into UK slam ‘evil’ trolls after online abuse News

Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley spoke out about the online abuse they received

Two women who were caught smuggling drugs into the UK have spoken out about the online abuse they have received. Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley from Blackburn told Border Force officials they had been on a three day shopping trip to New York.

But officers later uncovered text messages indicating that the pair had been involved in a plot to bring a large quantity of cannabis into the UK. Both women received suspended sentences after they were stopped on arrival at Birmingham Airpot.

Now, the two women have revealed the torrent of abuse they have received online since their case, LancashireLive reports.

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The glamourous pair hit out at trolls who targeted not just them, but their families as well.

Speaking to the Mirror, Whalley said that “evil keyboard warriors” spoke not just about her but also her late mother and even her baby.

The 31-year-old said: “They speak about my daughter and even my mum who has just passed away.

“It’s evil. We’ve done wrong, but I’ve not murdered anyone. I’m not saying what we did wasn’t bad, because it still is.”

Bannister meanwhile told reporters that they had been naive when they went along with the trip.

Both women said they weren’t “fully aware” of the case’s contents, but this was not accepted by a judge.

“You were both aware that, having travelled from New York to Birmingham via Paris, you had in your respective suitcases a significant quantity of heat-sealed bags containing 35.5kg of cannabis,” the judge told the court.

Asked why they didn’t back out once they realised something was amiss, Bannister said: “We were too deep in it by that point and they knew a lot about where we both lived, our families and stuff.

“It was very stupid. The biggest mistake. We’ll regret it for the rest of our lives.”

Taking to social media after walking free from court, Bannister said on social media: “Thank you for the people who have stood by us [during] truly the most mentally and emotionally challenging times of our life. 15 months of torture. HUGE lessons learnt. A LOT of tears along the way. But stood by each others side no matter what.”

Whalley has just become a mum to a baby girl. Her mum passed away last week, just before her sentencing.

Judge Richard Archer took these mitigating factors into account when sentencing the pair.

How the case unfolded

In December 2023, Bannister and Whalley – both originally from Blackburn – told Border Force officials they had been on a three-day shopping trip to the Big Apple.

However text messages between them later revealed they had become involved in a plot to import cannabis – and expected to make a lot of money from their exploits.

They returned on December 9, via Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport, but were stopped on their arrival into Birmingham. Both women said they had packed their own cases and knew it was illegal to bring drugs into the country.

However when their luggage was checked, officers found 34 heat sealed packages containing 16.5kg of cannabis in Bannister’s case and a further 39 packages containing 19kg of cannabis in Whalley’s case. The drugs in Bannister’s case had an estimated street value of £40,500 and Whalley’s were estimated at £121, 500.

Whalley, whose nursing careers is now in tatters, told officials she believed the packages contained watches. However both women later pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition and appeared at Preston Crown Court to be sentenced.

Bannister, of Cotton lane, Withington, received a suspended sentence and must complete 30 days of rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work. Whalley, Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, who was carrying the larger amount of cannabis, must complete 10 days of rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work, also receiving a suspended sentence.