Former EastEnders star Leanne Lakey has been accused of smuggling nearly 3kg of cocaine worth around £150,000 into the UK.
The actress, who played Belinda Peacock in the BBC soap, is accused of attempting to smuggle the class A drug past officers in a London airport last year.
Leanne has since appeared in Croydon crown court facing a possible drug smuggling charge.
It’s alleged that the 39-year-old attempted to smuggle the drugs with Dean Shanahan by hiding the drugs in Dean’s suitcase.
The star pleaded not guilty to “evading a prohibition on importing class A drugs”.
It’s been reported that Judge Adam Hiddleston freed them on bail until their trial, due to start on December 18.
Dean apparently must obey an electronically-tagged curfew between 10pm and 7am.
Leanne will be allowed to stay at her boyfriend’s flat in Bedford with the court’s permission.
Leanne starred in EastEnders from 2001 to 2003.
Her character returned to Albert Square last year but Leanne was dropped from the role and instead was played by Carli Norris.
Belinda is the sister of Kat Slater, Lynne Hobbs, Mo Slater and daughter of Viv Slater and Charlie Slater.
Despite the family coming from working class roots Belinda likes to think she is superior to her sisters but isn’t as classy as she makes out.
Lakey’s first professional acting role was a cameo in the film The Last Musketeer.
The actress then went on to land a role in Channel 5’s Family Affairs, playing Charlotte Day, in the same year as EastEnders.
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Leanne is known for being one of the first actresses to star in two soaps at the same time.
The actress trained at Arts Educational School in Chiswick, West London, and has also appeared in the TV series Casualty, New Tricks, The Bill, Holby City and Ashes to Ashes.