A BROTHER and his Darwen sister who arranged for drugs to be taken to a prison were thwarted by a sniffer dog.

The woman was supposed to have met up with someone outside Haverigg jail in Cumbria to hand over a cellophane ball containing Subutex tablets – a Class C drug.

When that failed to happen, she tried to smuggle the drug to her brother Ian Hartley during a visit.

But a dog assisting members of staff showed an interest in her and she went on to produce the drug package from her underwear.

Hartley, 37 of Larbreck Gardens, Great Eccleston, had admitted an offence of conveying a banned article into a prison.

At the time he was serving an indefinite prison term for robbery and has now been given a 12-month sentence for his latest offence, to run concurrently with his earlier sentence.

Pauline Lupton, 42 of Preston Street, Darwen had pleaded guilty to the same offence, plus one of possessing drugs with intent to supply and four others of simple drug possession.

She was given 12 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, with 12 months of supervision.

Adrian Williams, for Lupton, said she had been placed under ‘significant emotional pressure’ at the time.