by Julia Roberts

A “naive and gullible” mother caught with a stash of cocaine worth up to almost £40,000 on the street at her home has been jailed for 18 months.

Pauline Morgan claimed pressure was put on her by a man she knew from riding stables to keep the package in a cupboard.

The 54-year-old told police she suspected it contained cigarettes at first and then thought it might be pills such as viagra.

But when officers raided her top floor flat at Great Burton House in Kennington they discovered 792 grams of cocaine.

Morgan’s lawyer submitted it was an exceptional case and she could be spared prison.

But a judge said the offence called for a deterrent sentence and custody was inevitable.

Maidstone Crown Court heard police raided Morgan’s home on April 28 last year when she was at home with her teenage son and found 18 packs of the drug in a storage area.

Jane Scotchmer, prosecuting, said the cocaine was valued at between £31,000 and £39,600 at street level.

When arrested, Morgan, who admitted possessing the drug with intent to supply, she said a man had asked her to store cigarettes in return for £100 a week.

She gave him a key to the cupboard so that he could come and go. She agreed because she was on benefit and needed the money.

Mrs Scotchmer said the supplier Morgan named was arrested but released through lack of evidence.

Zoe Van Den Bosch, defending, said Morgan suffered from anxiety, depression and hypertension. Her 14-year-old son suffered from ADHD.

“If she receives an immediate custodial sentence, he will be displaced,” said Miss Van Den Bosch. “He is likely to go off the rails. He has displayed anger. The effect will be devastating.

“She has done wrong. She knows that. She feels pretty cheesed off about what has been done to her. She has been enormously taken advantage of.

“She knows she is stupid, naive and dim and needs to be punished. This case has exceptional circumstances."

Judge Charles Macdonald QC said he accepted Morgan was vulnerable and naive and the supplier badgered her to let him use her cupboard.

She felt intimidated and received only £180 for three months storage. There were many mitigating features, including genuine remorse and illness and the offence being out of character.

“On the other hand, the aggravating features are significant,” said the judge. “This was a large quantity of drugs. The offence facilitates street dealing in cocaine, the effects of which are of enormous social evil and attracts a deterrent sentence.”

Judge Macdonald added that Morgan was under less pressure than many “custodians” of drugs.