Barrister Cherie Blair has been criticised by the court of appeal for not jailing a cocaine smuggler when sitting as a judge at a crown court.
Appeal judge Lord Justice Pitchford suggested that Blair's decision to give Lee Williams a 12-month suspended sentence, following a trial at Isleworth crown court earlier this year, was "remarkable".
The appeal court quashed the "unduly lenient" sentence imposed by Blair – who uses her maiden name Booth in court – and replaced it with a three-and-a-half-year jail term.
Pitchford, sitting with Mr Justice Tugendhat and Mr Justice Griffith Williams, ordered Williams, 43, of Hanwell, west London, to surrender to police.
Appeal judges quashed the sentence imposed by Blair, who had been sitting as a recorder – a part-time judge – after lawyers representing Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve asked for a review.
Bill Emlyn Jones, for the attorney general – the government's chief legal adviser – argued that the sentence passed by Blair had been "unduly lenient" and a "startling result".
The appeal court heard that Blair had imposed the suspended sentence after hearing arguments from barrister Matthew Morgan, who represented Williams.
"I don't know what spell you were casting in the Isleworth crown court," Pitchford told Morgan at the hearing on Friday. "But this is a remarkable sentence, is it not?"
Pitchford said cocaine smuggling had a "public dimension" and should normally attract "lengthy" jail terms.
"There is a deficiency, in the respect of the recorder, in her reasoning," said Pitchford. "We consider the recorder was persuaded against her initial and better judgment and imposed an unduly lenient sentence."
He added: "In the most exceptional circumstances it may be possible for the court to take an exceptionally lenient course. We consider this present case is not in that exceptional category."
Prosecutors said Williams – convicted of conspiracy to supply a class A drug after pleading not guilty at a trial in March – had been involved in trying to smuggle cocaine with a street value of £145,600 into the UK.
In September 2010, American customs officers had intercepted a parcel containing nearly 1kg of cocaine destined for Williams's home, the court heard.
Prosecutors said Williams was not an "organiser" but argued he must have been "near the top of the food chain".
Morgan disputed that argument, saying Williams lived in a bedsit and showed no "trappings of wealth".
Blair had taken into account Williams's poor health, and the fact that he had spent 240 days in prison on remand prior to trial, before handing down the suspended sentence, the court heard.
During Friday's hearing, Blair was referred to as Miss Recorder Booth QC.