A young woman has been jailed for nearly four years after trying to smuggle cocaine to the island on the ferry.

Kelsey Peers had stashed the drugs inside her but an eagle-eyed of duty police officer became suspicious of her behaviour while aboard the Manxman ferry.

Peers, of Whitefield in Manchester, had boarded the boat at Heysham on July 12 last year with a male but the off-duty police officer noticed her leaving her seat and luggage unattended for long periods.

He alerted colleagues and officers were waiting for Peers, 24, when she arrived at Douglas Sea Terminal. She was arrested on suspicion of producing cocaine.

She was strip searched but refused to be searched further due to a health issue and requested to go to hospital where she spent almost three days, still refusing to be searched.

Eventually, when she was told she would undergo an x-ray, she produced the package from inside her.

Tests revealed the substance found contained 28.1g of cocaine with a street value of £4,000. She gave a ‘no comment’ interview.

Defence advocate Debbie Myerscough admitted she struggled to understand why Peers, who has no previous convictions, decided to bring over the drugs.

She said: ‘She is a young woman who made a terrible decision with no explanation and she is paying the price.

‘There are so many cases of young men and women with mental health issues who end up doing this and you cannot help but feel sorry for them.’

She said the only way to deal with this would be to target those at the top of the chain who exploit these young people.

Deemster Graeme Cook said Peers was some one who was ‘easily influenced and easily led’. He noted there was a degree of sophistication involved.

But he was left exasperated as to why so many people run the risk of a lengthy prison sentence.

Deemster Cook said: ‘When you are at Heysham you cannot avoid the warning signs which state if you bring illegal drugs into the island you face a 12-year sentence. But the message does not seem to be getting through and it seems to be not enough.’

In sentencing Peers, Deemster Cook took into account her early guilty plea, the fact she has no previous convictions, her genuine remorse and her personal issues. She was jailed for three years and eight months.