A 25-year-old prison pharmacist who smuggled drugs and phone cards into prison in her cleavage for an inmate with whom she was “having a relationship” has been suspended

A prison pharmacy assistant was suspended after she was caught smuggling drugs and phone cards into a prison using her cleavage.

Elena Turner developed “something of a relationship” with an inmate when she visited him with goods hidden in a package, it was told at a disciplinary hearing.

At the hearing, it was revealed how she smuggled a SIM card, three SD cards and cannabis into Mount Prison in Bovingdon, Herts, in January 2023.

However, when a sniffer dog stopped Turner, the contraband was discovered “in her cleavage.”

The then 25-year-old was arrested and eventually sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

Elena Turner was caught smuggling drugs into HMP The Mount in January 2023 (archive photo)

But now that she has been brought before the General Pharmaceutical Council, she has been suspended for ten months for violating “one of the fundamental principles of the profession”.

After Turner was spotted by the sniffer dog, she was led to an area where visitors are searched by staff, where a drug-sniffing dog indicated that she should be stopped.

The technician denied having anything on her before a physical examination revealed a package “hidden in her cleavage” containing 11g of cannabis, memory cards and a SIM card for a mobile phone.

She was arrested on suspicion of smuggling the contraband into prison and admitted the charge at St Albans Crown Court in September last year.

At the hearing, the judge revealed that she had “developed something of a relationship” with the inmate, even though she did not know him before, as she had become a “regular visitor.”

In a written statement at the disciplinary hearing, she asked to be allowed to keep her driver's license because she was trying to care for her son.

In her testimony, she said she knew what she had done was wrong, but felt pressured by the inmate to bring the items to prison because she was afraid of him because he knew where she lived.

She said she had cut off all contact with him since her conviction.

The panel heard that following her conviction, she was dismissed from her job as a pharmaceutical technician and has been working as a receptionist in a general practice since November 2023 to keep her professional knowledge up to date.

As she is on maternity leave, she plans to return to work in February 2025.

The panel said her conviction was a “serious crime.”

“The Committee concluded that the [she] She stated that she had violated one of the fundamental principles of her profession, which is to act honestly, and that her conduct fell far short of the standards expected of a pharmacy technician.

“She committed the offence intentionally and lied when the dog handler asked her if she had anything on her.”

They added that the offence was aggravated by her failure to make “sufficient statements to demonstrate” that she was fully aware of the impact of her conviction on the public or the profession.

They suspended her for ten months and added: “[We have] decided that the appropriate sanction was a ban of ten months.

“With this sanction, we want to send a message to our colleagues and the public that pharmacists are expected to maintain standards and comply with the law outside of their workplace.”

“This period should also give the registrant the opportunity to reflect on [our] findings and work to gain a comprehensive understanding of their conduct, their obligations under professional standards and the impact this has had on the profession and the public.”

The panel concluded that a review would take place towards the end of her suspension.