A trans woman who was caught smuggling 26kg of cannabis into the UK in order to fund a sex change operation has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars in a men’s prison.
Keira Borrett, 46, from Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, was discovered with two suitcases full of the Class B drug when stopped by Border Force officials at London Heathrow Airport on May 23.
Borrett, who was born a male but identifies as a woman, had been returning to the UK from Bangkok in Thailand – where Isleworth Crown Court heard the smuggler made a deal to transport the drugs in exchange for £10,000 transitional surgery.
Prosecutor Sahra Ali said police had been told how Borrett had bumped into a man from Essex in a Bangkok bar, where the conversation turned to how expensive said surgery had become.
After being introduced to accomplices of the Essex man, Borrett received a drop-off by two men in an SUV which contained two ‘very heavy’ bags, which were then checked in as luggage under Borrett’s name.
Borrett was instructed to take these bags to a hotel once touching down in the UK and was informed a payment of £10,000 would be sent for doing so – in turn funding the surgery.
However, Borrett’s attempts were thwarted when the airport luggage check revealed that the two suitcases were stuffed with vacuum-sealed cannabis parcels which had a total value of around £800,000, prompting the smuggler’s arrest.
Borrett pleaded guilty to smuggling the Class B drug at an earlier hearing.
Keira Borrett (above) has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars in a men’s prison after being caught smuggling 26kg of cannabis into the UK
Borrett, who was born a male but identifies as a woman, had been returning from Bangkok in Thailand – where the smuggler is said to have made a deal transport the drugs in exchange for £10,000 transitional surgery
Border Force officials discovered two suitcases full of the Class B drug when stopped at London Heathrow Airport on May 23
‘She was not under any duress, she did this willingly. There was an expectation of significant financial advance,’ said Ms Ali, referring to Borrett by using female pronouns.
Borrett appeared to be sentenced on a video link from male prison HMP Wormwood Scrubs, west London, where the defendant has spent three months on remand.
Mitigating, Sebastian Cox said Borrett’s placement in a men’s prison had forced the smuggler to ‘detransition’ and urged the judge to suspend any prison sentence, saying ‘every day in prison has been harder for her given her identity’.
Mr Cox continued by saying Borrett taking the suitcases was a ‘lack of judgement’ but that it was an ‘isolated incident’ and one not in line with the defendant’s character.
‘The offer of money and knowing what it could have done for her life. She made a very silly decision,’ he added. ‘She is remorseful in the extreme knowing the impact this has had on her family and friends.’
The court was told that Borrett’s trip to Thailand was the second in a matter of months, with recorder Kate Aubrey-Johnson saying this brought the defendant’s claims that smuggling the drugs was an ‘impulsive decision’ into question.
Borrett was instructed to the drugs to a hotel once touching down in the UK and was informed a payment of £10,000 would be sent for doing so – in turn funding transitional surgery
The suitcases were stuffed with vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis which had a value of around £800,000
Jailing Borrett for 18 months, Ms Johnson said: ‘Although you say it was an impulsive decision, the fact that you had travelled to Thailand before makes me wonder how much credibility I can give to that.’
Ms Johnson also said that Borrett’s claims to not knowing what was in the suitcases, stretched credulity.
‘You didn’t ask the question but you must have known they contained something,’ she added.
Deciding not to suspend the prison sentence, Ms Johnson said she had taken into account the ‘additional issues’ faced while on remand as a result of the Home Office decision that it must be served in a male prison.
‘You have strong mitigation,’ she told Borrett, but added that courts had a duty to send a ‘strong deterrent’ message to those who might get involved in smuggling.
‘This is an offence that is prevalent,’ she added.
Borrett pleaded guilty to smuggling the Class B drug at an earlier hearing and spent three months on remand at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in west London
‘We know that criminals target individuals to act as couriers. As cannabis has been made legal in other parts of the world, it means these criminal operations are now increasingly looking to bring drugs into the UK.’
Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis in 2022, leading to with a dramatic increase in the drug smuggled into the UK by both post and air passengers.
Alex Murray, the National Crime Agency’s director of threat leadership, said: ‘We have been working well with the Thai authorities who are keen to intervene.
‘Couriers should think very carefully about agreeing to smuggle cannabis. There are life-changing consequences.
‘Crime groups can be very persuasive but the risk of getting caught is very high and simply not worth it.’
