Levi Whalley, an influencer nurse who documented a jet-setting lifestyle to nearly 45,000 Instagram followers, has been allowed to retain her nursing license despite being caught attempting to smuggle approximately £160,000 worth of cannabis into the United Kingdom. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) ruled that revoking her license would be unduly punitive, considering she was experiencing significant personal difficulties at the time of the offense.
Whalley, 32, and a friend were apprehended by Border Force officials at Birmingham Airport upon their return from a purported shopping trip to New York. Officials discovered over 35 kilograms of cannabis, with Whalley's suitcase alone containing 19 kilograms of the Class-B drug.
Despite narrowly avoiding a jail sentence, Whalley was convicted of drug smuggling at Blackburn Magistrates' Court in February 2025. Two months later, she received a 16-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Preston Crown Court. She was also required to complete 80 hours of unpaid work.
At the NMC tribunal, Whalley presented evidence detailing the difficult personal circumstances she faced, which she stated have since been resolved. She claimed that an offer to travel to New York was initially for a shopping trip and that she was later threatened to transport goods, including watches, back to the UK. She expressed that she made an irrational decision due to a desire for escapism and did not consider the consequences. The panel noted her account of panicking before her flight home and receiving messages threatening her home and family.
The tribunal acknowledged Whalley's long-held aspiration to be a nurse, having worked in healthcare since age 18 and qualifying in 2019. She had worked her way up to a management position at an eye clinic before establishing her own business as a "nurse injector" in the private sector. She has been unable to practice since her suspension in December 2023.
The NMC panel concluded that a 12-month suspension was appropriate to mark the seriousness of her conviction, while emphasizing that her conviction was not fundamentally incompatible with remaining on the nursing register.
