MOTHER-OF-THREE has become the first person in the region to be convicted following the launch of a task force to tackle loan sharks.

According to the Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT), vulnerable people across the North-East are being charged astronomical interest rates on loans they have little hope of repaying.

When borrowers fall behind with repayments, they can face threats, violence and sexual abuse, experts say.

The team has made 20 arrests in the North-East since its launch 18 months ago.

Vicky Clayton, 30, of Fordy Grove, Thornaby, near Stockton, yesterday became the first person to be convicted.

Teesside Crown Court heard a cash book containing the details of 47 borrowers was found during a police raid on her home in February last year.

According to the book, the illegal business had turned over more than £22,000 since November 2006.

Each customer who borrowed £100 was charged £40.

Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, told the court that the fee was equivalent to an interest rate of up to 120 per cent, depending on when the customer paid back the loan.

Peter Makepeace, mitigating, said no complaints had been made to the authorities about his client.

The court was told the business started when she was left some money and loaned some to a friend of her husband.

Mr Makepeace said: “Word got around the estate that she lives on, that she had some money and she was prepared to lend it.

“Her customers trust her and she trusts them.

“What is absent is the sinister element of money lending that tends to be threats and coercion.”

Clayton pleaded guilty to lending money without a licence at an earlier hearing.

Sentencing her to three months in prison, suspended for a year, Judge Brian Forester told her: “You were operating a money-lending operation and you had a significant turnover.”

David Sayer, manager of the North-East IMLT, said after the hearing that he was pleased with the sentence.

He said: “We are looking into several other moneylenders across the region and we hope to have more in court in the near future.”

During the original police raid, amphetamines worth nearly £1,000 were found in a sock in the kitchen.

Also appearing in court yesterday was Lee Clayton, Mrs Clayton’s husband, who admitted possession of the drug with intent to supply.

The 29-year-old was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. He was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.

He appeared in the dock with Richard Renahan, 47, of Lancaster Way, Thornaby, near Stockton, who admitted conspiracy to supply amphetamines.

The court heard that drugs with a street value of £9,600 were found under the seat of a taxi he was driving in November 2007.

He was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for a year, and made the subject of a curfew order.