Girls caught with weed-stuffed suitcase flip to notorious grownup web site after avoiding jail
Two women were detained at Birmingham Airport after being caught trying to smuggle in a suitcase filled with drugs – but are now hoping to turn their lives around with a new racy career move
A pair of glamorous friends decided to turn their backs on a life of crime and move towards a popular adult site to start new lives as entertainers.
Sophie Bannister, 30, and Levi-April Whalley, 31, from Blackburn, have posted a series of extremely racy snaps to promote their newest career venture – adult entertainment. Previously, the pair were arrested after they were caught smuggling more than 35kg of cannabis in their suitcase on a return flight to the UK after a “shopping trip” to New York – but they say that’s now behind them.
Both women received suspended sentences after being detained for bringing the drugs back to the UK from the US. Since then, they have been sharing their lives, and bodies, on the popular adult site Only Fans.
Speaking to the Mail Online, Bannister said: “I’ve not been posting on it recently because I’ve been busy with other things. Levi and I did it for a laugh and to help make ends meet.”
Whalley was a nurse – and now faces being struck off – and Bannister was educated at boarding school. They both claim their lives have been “ruined” by the event, despite only receiving suspended sentences.
When they were caught, the women informed Border Force officials they had been on a three-day shopping extravaganza in New York City when they were intercepted at Birmingham International Airport in December 2023. However, upon inspection of their bags, drugs worth more than £160,000 on the street were swiftly uncovered.
When 70 heat-sealed packages were discovered hidden in the luggage, Whalley desperately claimed the parcels contained watches. The pair believed they were simply moving jewellery across the boarder.
Speaking to The Mirror about how they got entangled in a cannabis smuggling ring, they claim it all began with a single social media message from a girl Sophie met in Marbella.
“She asked if we wanted to travel to New York around Christmas. All we had to do was bring some watches back,” Sophie said.
At the time, Sophie was trying to clear debts from her time in Dubai, while Levi sought a break from “personal issues” back home.
“You just enjoy the holiday and don’t really have to think about what you were actually doing,” Levi added.
Both friends maintained that they were not “fully aware” of what filled their case to the brim, yet the judge said: “You were both aware that, having travelled from New York to Birmingham via Paris, you had in your respective suitcases a significant quantity of heat-sealed bags containing 35.5kg of cannabis.”
Last Wednesday at Preston Crown Court Judge Richard Archer gave Whalley a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 10 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.
Bannister was sentenced to 20 months suspended for 18 months with 30 days rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.
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