A GRANDMOTHER who bought drugs to supply her friends has been spared jail.

Anne Boddy, 54, was told by a judge that exceptional circumstances had saved her from 12 months in prison.

Boddy admitted possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply and was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

Judge George Moorhouse told her: "You know yourself, with your experience of life, that people who deal with drugs, supplying them to others, are committing a very serious offence, which usually results in a loss of liberty."

Boddy, of Ainstable Road, Overfields, Middlesbrough, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Judge Moorhouse also imposed a 12-month supervision order and a confiscation order for £580 -the street value of the drugs.

The court heard how Boddy's house was searched by police on October 27 last year and 58.7g of amphetamines was found by a sniffer dog hidden in a teddy bear.

Judge Moorhouse described the haul as a lot, but accepted Boddy had shown remorse and that the likelihood of re-offending was low.

He said the exceptional circumstances in the case were Boddy's poor mental and physical health and her role as being a sole carer for her three teenage grandchildren.

But he warned her: "If you get involved in any offence over the next two years, you will go straight to prison."