A nurse's career is in tatters as she is set to be struck off after being caught with more than £160,000 worth of cannabis concealed in suitcases. Levi Whalley and her friend Sophie Bannister, both 30, were pulled aside by Border Force officers at Birmingham International Airport in December 2023, after they had returned from a shopping trip to New York. However, a search of the pair's luggage found heat-sealed bags which Whalley initially claimed she believed held luxury watches, but were found to contain cannabis . She told them she was aware it was an offence to bring drugs into the country. Both women made no comment while being interviewed, but later pleaded guilty to the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition, Manchester Evening News reports . After telling her employer what had happened, Whalley was given an interim suspension order from regulatory body the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on February 27, 2024, meaning she could not practise as a nurse while the investigation was carried out. On Wednesday, April 2, her barrister Ian Whithurst told Preston Crown Court that she had been caring for her now-deceased mother following her arrest, and has since become a single parent to a young child. He added that she had "lost a very promising career". He added: "She self-reported immediately to her employers. At the end of these proceedings, there will be a final hearing [with the NMC], which will remove her from the nursing profession." The court heard how Whalley was approached by Sophie Bannister to join the scheme to carry the drugs into the UK. The pair exchanged messages discussing the cash they could make out of the trip to New York. Sitting next to each other in the dock, the two held hands and cried as the story of their plan was told to the court. Upon their return, they told officials at the airport that they had been on a three-day shopping trip. Both said they had packed their own luggage and knew bringing drugs into the UK was illegal. The search of their bags discovered 34 heat sealed packages containing 16.5kg of cannabis in Bannister's luggage, with an estimated street value of £40,500. Another 39 packages containing 19kg of cannabis in Whalley's were estimated at £121,500. Judge Richard Archer gave Whalley a 16-month sentence , suspended for 18 months with 10 days of rehabilitation activities and 80 hours of unpaid work. He said she played a 'lesser role' in the offence. Bannister received a 20-month sentence, suspended for 18 months with 30 days of rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid work. During sentencing, the judge said: "You were both aware that having travelled from New York to Birmingham via Paris that you had in your respective suitcases a significant quantity of heat sealed bags, containing 35.5kg of cannabis. "This was not your cannabis but cannabis you were carrying on behalf of another but you were expecting significant financial advantage for doing what you did. You discussed it in relation to this particular trip to New York, with a clear view of the money you were going to make from behaving this way. "You perhaps had little regard to the seriousness or consequences of your offending. It must have been in the back of your mind that you would be caught but you probably thought very little about sitting in the dock this afternoon. I very much hope that you don't involve yourselves in this behaviour again." The pair are expected to return to Preston Crown Court later this year to face a Proceeds of Crime hearing .