Jailed British student caught smuggling 33kg of cannabis from Thailand to Amsterdam was doing it 'to pay his university tuition fees'

The 29-year-old was caught with his 24-year-old girlfriend when they made a stopover in the Austrian capital Vienna on their way to deliver the drugs in Amsterdam.

When a customs officer searched his case, prosecutors told Korneuburg Regional Court, they found 33kg of cannabis inside, worth nearly £350,000.

The student, who has not been named in local media, told judges he had been offered €10,000 to make the drugs run by a man he had met by chance.

He said: "I met a guy in a pub in London. I wanted to use this money for my tuition fees."

The student and his 24-year-old girlfriend, who had paid for their flights, sobbed as they were told they could be jailed for up to 15 years, local media reported on October 31.

But his girlfriend's attorney Dominik Wild told the court: "These are not the classic drug smugglers."

Local media reports said the couple had sat hand in hand in the dock as the student's lawyer Alexander Prenner said his four years at uni could cost him up to €100,000.

He told the court: "It's primarily about students who are promised that they can check in a suitcase and get a lot of money for it. Young people are being shamelessly exploited."

Astonishingly despite the size of the haul judges took pity on the couple. The student, who has been in custody since his arrest in July, was given a 30-month jail sentence but was told he has to serve a total of just six months in jail. With time already served, he could be home by Christmas.

The presiding judge reportedly told the court: "General prevention is the most important point here. That's why the defendant is not going home today. There are enough people who are in need and who do not commit criminal acts."

His girlfriend walked free completely, reports local media, with a one-year suspended jail sentence. Kindhearted judges even gave the couple an extra two minutes to say goodbye before the student was led down to the cells.

Story: NewsX