A former P&O petty officer has escaped going to prison despite police discovering £30,000 worth of drugs at her Deal home.

Officers burst into the house in Mill Road in April and found multi-lingual Karoline Danstead in her bedroom.

But Canterbury Crown Court heard that officers uncovered a variety of illegal drugs, including white crystals, LSD, 400g of cannabis, cannabis resin and M-Cat.

Prosecutor Andrew Forsyth told the judge that a drugs “tick” list, scales and more than £4,600 was found in a safe in the attic and in a garden shed.

He said that when questioned the 56-year-old told officers some of the drugs she had were to supply to others.

Her lawyer Ian Bond explained that M-Cat was a synthetic stimulant of the leafy plant khat which is chewed by people in other parts of the world, including the Yemen.

The defence lawyer told how Danstead worked for P&O Ferries for 10 years, starting as a stewardess and ending as a petty officer in the information unit, as she could speak Italian and French.

She was given a 20-month jail sentence suspended for two years after admitting five charges of having drugs and possessing some intending to sell them.

Danstead was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work for the community and told by the judge, Recorder Rupert Lowe: “Some people think they can pick and choose which laws they obey.

“You took drugs in front of your teenage children... you just don’t care.

“It is disgusting for someone of your age to be dealing in drugs in this way. You taught your children that drug dealing and drug taking was an ordinary part of life.”

After the hearing a message was posted on her LinkedIn account appearing to mock the sentence.

It read: “Suspended animation” followed by a two-fingered V for victory salute, a heart, hands in prayer and “XX”.

Her account claims she was educated at Dover Girls’ Grammar School before studying at Canterbury Christ Church University.