A YOUNG mother sold drugs on the way to pick up her daughter from school, a court heard yesterday.

Juliet Mitchell, 25, was unaware that her customer was an undercover policeman, said prosecutor David Lamb.

His attention was drawn to her odd behaviour on the Darlington street corner, Teesside Crown Court heard.

When he approached her and he asked if she could sort him out, she sold him two wraps of heroin for £20.

Mark Styles, defending, said: "She had a substantial drug problem and she was in such a state that she could not remember."

He added that Mitchell was on a methadone reduction programme, but it was not the solution. She was anxious to receive assistance.

Judge Michael Taylor told her: "You are a stupid young woman, and locking you up will prevent you supplying drugs for a period of time, but it is going to do nothing to wean you off your habit."

Mitchell, of Thames Way, Darlington, was given two years' probation, including a Think First programme, after admitting supplying a Class A drug in Corporation Road, Darlington, on June 12 last year.