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A Mansfield woman who fell back into drug abuse after her mum's death and was “pressurised” into selling heroin and crack cocaine has been locked up.

Tina Folkes was arrested in a churchyard with seven drug wraps hidden in a Kinder egg, and six grammes of crack and £264 in cash were found when her home was searched on August 7 last year, said prosecutor David Allen.

Folkes was on police bail when more drugs were discovered, along with an imitation pistol, drugs paraphernalia, and stolen items, in a second search on September 27.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Folkes, aged 49, was robbed at gunpoint and bitten on the arm by the criminals who supplied her with drugs in a bid “to keep her under their control”.

She was threatened and targeted with vandalism and a closure notice was served on her home to prevent users from turning up there.

The court heard she has 19 previous convictions for 31 offences, including three for drug possession between 2010 and 2015, and was last in trouble seven years ago for fraud.

Reports from the courts: the latest cases in Mansfield, Ashfield and Bassetlaw

Daniel Scothern, mitigating, said Folkes pleaded guilty on the basis she was put under pressure but accepted selling the drugs to fund her own habit.

She first began abusing drugs after the death of her daughter in 2009, he said, and lapsed back into addiction again when she struggled to cope with her mother's death in 2022.

“She is not a big player in the game,” he said. “She presents as someone who would be capable of being exploited.

“She had no designer goods or anything of that nature which would mean she was able to afford some of the finer things in life.”

Mr Scothern said she has served the equivalent of a 15-month sentence in custody where she has made “astounding progress” and gained positive reports from the probation service.

Folkes, of Broomhill Lane, Mansfield, initially denied possession with intent to supply class A drugs before pleading guilty in February.

Recorder Simon Ash KC said her financial gain was limited to the drugs she took for herself and accepted she was remorseful.

On Thursday he jailed her for 32 months and said she will serve half in custody and half on licence.

Jail for Mansfield dealer who lapsed back into drug abuse following her mum’s death