Raylee Patricia James pleads guilty to attempting to smuggle drugs into prison after ‘pressure’ from inmates

A 47-year-old woman says she was pressured by inmates at Casuarina Prison into attempting to smuggle 3.6 grams of cannabis in. Raylee Patricia James pleaded guilty in Rockingham Magistrates Court on Friday to one count of possession of a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply. Prosecutor Scott Andrews told the court that about 4.30pm on March 1, 2022, James had a scheduled visit with an inmate at Casuarina Prison. Officers had seen she had three balloons in her hand and was acting suspiciously. They subsequently searched her and found that the balloons contained cannabis. When questioned by police, she said she had “received multiple calls from people asking her to bring stuff in”. Duty counsellor Ekaterina Jance said “(James) is not a drug user herself”. “(Inmates) had been calling her, harassing her because she is the only one that had access to this,” she said. Ms Jance asked for Magistrate Janelle Scutt to consider a fine, stating that James “will never do anything like this again”. Ms Scutt said the offence was extremely serious, due to the fact “she has taken drugs into jail” with the intent to supply “people who have been incarcerated”. “A fine does not properly reflect the seriousness of the offence,” she said. Ms Jance made submissions for a pre-sentence report, with the matter remanded to September 14.