Mother who gave birth in prison cleared of cocaine smuggling charges

Joy-Ann Katrina Cox, 29, was pregnant and on honeymoon with her husband when officers discovered cocaine in a secret compartment in his suitcase when the couple arrived at Manchester Airport. 

The nail salon owner was arrested and remanded to HMP Styal in Cheshire, where her daughter was born and allowed to remain with her. 

Her husband Tremain Green, from Barbados, was found guilty of importing of Class A drugs on June 8 last year. 

But jurors at Manchester Crown Court today took four hours today to clear her of the same offence.

The drugs, weighing 1200g, were found in the Samsonite suitcase which Ms Cox claimed only came into her husband’s possession late on the night before their flight.

Mother-of-two Ms Cox, also from Barbados, said was not aware that drugs were inside.

She had been suspicious of the bag but did not expect that her husband would do something "so stupid."

Although Ms Cox booked the tickets for the trip, it was planned by her husband and she was unclear why exactly he chose Manchester as a honeymoon destination. 

Much was made of the discrepancies between her initial statement to the police and the evidence she gave in court. 

She made fresh statements in court to indicate that Mr Green had specifically instructed her to book the tickets by handing her the name of the hotel where they would stay, Jury’s Inn. 

The prosecution claimed that because she was introducing new claims at this point she was inconsistent.

Miss Brandon also suggested that Ms Cox was in a financially precarious position along with her husband.

Miss Gatto, defending, rebuked these claims; the defendant said herself that she “lacked for nothing”, and details of the case revealed that she paid back debts incurred by Mr Green on her behalf. 

Her husband borrowed money from a friend of hers, and she quickly paid this friend back 2,000 Barbados dollars when she discovered this.

Ms Cox’s husband Tremain Green is due to be sentenced in three weeks, on the 14th of April.

summing up the evidence Miss Jones, presiding judge, asked the jury to put aside “emotions, sympathy, matters of those kind”, and base their decision solely on the evidence given.

Manchester Crown Court, Barbados, nine weeks, 1200g

Miss Brandon, prosecuting for HM Customs, claimed that Ms Cox was aware of the drugs.

Jo Eckersley