A FORMER prison officer at Brockhill Prison tried to smuggle drugs into her boyfriend while he was in custody on remand.

Staff at nearby Blakenhurst Prison seized a package which contained four wraps of heroin, a postal order, a letter and a card in Sharon Poles' former name.

The heroin, sent to inmate Anthony Reilly, was contained in cigarette papers sealed in the flaps of envelopes inside the package, said Michael Aspinall, prosecuting at Worcester Crown Court.

Arrested by Redditch police, Poles gave a "no comment" interview.

Poles, aged 32, of Cecil Street, The Butts, Walsall, pleaded guilty to attempting to supply drugs.

Recorder Barry Berlin gave her a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, and a two-year supervision order by the probation service.

He said it was "an extraordinary case" in which Poles had used her inside knowledge of the prison system to commit the crime.

But he accepted that she had fallen under the "bad influence" of Reilly and, until the age of 30, had been a responsible member of the community.

She was now taking anti-depressant pills and had tried to stab herself in the chest with a fork.

The mother-of-five had also suffered a marriage breakdown and two bereavements. Her mother died, then her father committed suicide, leaving a note which blamed his daughter.

The package was examined on July 1 last year. It contained 0.19 grammes of heroin. Poles pleaded guilty on the day she was due to stand trial.

She met her boyfriend while she was working as a prison officer. But the authorities found out and suspended her. She was then sacked.

Laura Kasasian, defending, said because of her former job Poles would have faced a hard time in jail. She had feared meeting her former colleagues.

Miss Kasasian said she would also have lost any hope of fighting adoption proceedings over her last child, a 12 months old baby boy.