Mum buys daughter 12 bags of cocaine 'to celebrate 18th birthday'

A mother bought 12 bags of cocaine to ensure her daughter "had a good time" on her 18th birthday, a court heard.

Nicola Austen, 37, also hired a limo to celebrate the occasion but was arrested after a drugs raid on her home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent in January.

Police found 5.65 grams of the class A drug worth £300 hidden in sections of her bedroom window.

Austen, who has six previous convictions including drugs possession, admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

The 5 grams of cocaine had been divided into 12 bags and hidden in a bedroom window. Credit: PA

Prosecutor Craig Evans told Maidstone Crown Court: "They were going to London in a limousine and she [Austen] wanted to ensure they had a good time."

However, she was spared jail after a judge said it would have an adverse effect on a young boy in the family.

Instead, Austen, who is also a grandmother, received a nine month sentence, suspended for a year.

She was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.