A WOMAN tried to smuggle a mobile phone to an inmate at a Lancashire jail.

Sheila McLachlan dropped the phone, which was wrapped in a plastic bag, into a trolley outside the prison shop at Kirkham jail.

McLachlan, a 44-year-old mother of one, of Westbury Gardens, Blackburn, admitted conveying an item to a prisoner.

She was granted a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £60 costs by Blackpool magistrates.

Prosecutor Angus Craigen said: "The defendant went to visit Stephen Gregson -- an inmate at Kirkham Prison.

"She was seen by a member of staff to drop a package into a trolley by the prison shop.

"The package was found to be a mobile phone wrapped in a plastic bag.

"When interviewed, she said it was a spare phone. She said she thought the trolley was for rubbish and she was disposing of it."

Mark Nolan, defending, said at the time McLachlan had been in a relationship with a prisoner.

He added: "That partner asked her to provide him with a mobile phone. This was preying on her strong feelings for him at the time. It was said the phone was wanted to maintain contact with her."

The defence added that McLachlan was no longer in a relationship with the man.