TWO women caught with thousands of pounds-worth of a drug in their home have walked free - partly because the case has taken so long to reach court.

Weeks after it was made illegal last year, a stash of mephedrone was found in a safe when police raided the home of Jodie Dyball and Beverley Atkinson.

Nearly 12 months on, the Stockton women appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced last week - a delay branded "astonishing" by a judge.

Judge Michael Taylor told the pair they would "almost certainly" have been jailed if they had been dealt with in the late summer or early autumn.

He said the delay had given them the chance to show they could stay out of trouble, and imposed six-month suspended prison sentences with supervision.

Dyball, 23, admitted possessing a Class B drug with intent to supply, and 42-year-old Atkinson pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of the drug.

The court heard how 17 packages of white powder - said to be worth £4,200 - was found during the raid on the property in Honey Way on July 23.

Mephedrone - similar to cocaine or ecstasy and also known as meow meow - was criminalised in April last year after a spate of deaths were linked to it.

Dyball and Atkinson admitted selling the drug before it became illegal, and their barristers said they were stupid to carry on doing so after the change in the law.