British woman who escaped Venezuelan jail convicted of dealing drugs in UK

A British woman who escaped from a Venezuelan prison after being convicted of trying to smuggle cocaine has been jailed for almost seven years for dealing drugs in the UK.

Natalie Welsh, a mother of two, who wrote a book about her ordeal, had vowed to go straight after spending four years in jail in South America and on her return to Britain got a well-paid job.

Photo from here.

After the publication of her prison memoir, Sentenced to Hell, last year, Welsh, 30, lost her job and began drug dealing to pay her bills. She specialised in what were until recently legal highs such as mephedrone but when police raided her home in Gloucestershire they also found thousands of pounds worth of cocaine.

Sentencing Welsh to six years and nine months, Judge William Hart said her's was a cautionary tale.

He expressed surprise that the "indifferent hospitality" she endured in prison in Venezuela had not been taken as a warning never to get involved with drugs again.

Welsh's barrister, Jason Coulter, told the judge it was frustrating that a talented woman like Welsh had acted as she did. He said she was a "potent advertisement" of the danger of drug consumption.