editorial comment Sorry, Mr. McKittrick, but we think that they are in prison because of people like you..... And now the whole family will be living off the state (then again, so does Mr. McKittrick!)

A WOMAN who tried to smuggle cannabis to her boyfriend in Littlehey Prison was led sobbing "my children, my children" from the dock at Peterborough Crown Court as she was jailed.

Margaret O'Reilly, 21, who was sent down for 14 months, stood to lose her two children and her home, the court heard.

O'Reilly was said to have hidden the drug in her bra, although there was suspicion that it had been concealed in her baby's nappy.

O'Reilly had been visiting her boyfriend Michael Gavin, father of her children, who was serving a four-year sentence for robbery, when she was caught at the prison near St Neots.

The court heard that Gavin had been suicidal after becoming the victim of a serious assault while in prison.

Judge Neil McKittrick told her: "It is well-known there are drugs in prisons and they are in prisons because of people like you."

O'Reilly, of Leighton Street, Preston, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and two offences of possessing the drug.

She began crying before she was sentenced and could still be heard sobbing as she was being taken down to the cells.

Jacqueline Matthews-Stroud, prosecuting, said O'Reilly had gone to the prison with her sister and two-year-old son last year to see Michael Gavin.

She said although visitors were searched young children were not unless there was cause for suspicion.

During the visit the child needed his nappy changing and when O'Reilly returned she was searched again and a blue balloon containing cannabis was found.

She was told to wait to be dealt with and a search discovered another balloon containing cannabis in a bin near where she had been sitting.

At Huntingdon police station she was searched again and more cannabis was found in a building society book.

Peter Barr, defending, said Gavin had been suicidal. His brother had committed suicide as a prisoner. Gavin had asked for the cannabis to use as prison currency so he could buy more phone cards to keep in touch with his family.

Mr Barr said: "Her primary concern today (Monday, 16 May) is the fate of the children which is why she has been extremely distressed."

He told the court that O'Reilly accepted she had been "extremely stupid" and urged the court to make an exception to custody in her case.

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