A woman who became a drug dealer to escape the clutches of loan sharks was spared prison yesterday for health reasons.

Mother-of-six Carol Redshaw, 46, split from her husband over her debts, and a friend suggested that she could solve her problems by selling drugs.

The friend provided her with an ounce of amphetamine for £75, saying that it would fetch £225 in £5 wraps, but the next day the police were on her doorstep with a search warrant.

Redshaw, who had moved into her mother's home in Hartlepool, immediately produced 23 wraps from her bag, said prosecutor Stephen Allison.

He told Teesside Crown Court: "She said that she had a breakdown in her relationship so she decided to sell some to make some money.

"She bought an ounce for £75 and she was told that she could get 45 deals from it, and she spread the word to friends that she was selling it."

William Greer, defending, said that Redshaw and her husband were on unemployment benefit and, when she fell into debt, she borrowed £200 from a backstreet loan company, paying back £30 a week. They offered her more money and the debt increased.

Her husband was unaware of the debt and asked her why she had no money and why other bills were not being paid. It led to arguments and, three days before her arrest, she moved out.

The judge, Recorder John Lodge, told her: "Looking at the overall circumstances of your age, your previous good character, your health condition does enable me to say there are exceptional circumstances in this case."

Redshaw, of Runciman Road, Hartlepool, was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after she pleaded guilty to possession of amphetamine with intent to supply to persons unknown on May 28.

The judge ordered destruction of the drugs and paraphrenalia, and confiscation of £20 from her drug sales.