A YOUNG mum was caught with a £60,000 stash of drugs hidden in a secret trapdoor in her car.
Lauren Woodward, 21, and her partner Craig Nicholls, 22, were stopped as they drove 200 miles back from collecting drugs in Liverpool.
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The pair's Renault Twingo was searched in Newport, Gwent, and a court heard six blocks of heroin were found inside.
Prosecutor Sol Hartley said the drugs were hidden in a secret "trapdoor" compartment built into the vehicle.
Mr Hartley said mum-of-one Woodward was hired by her partner to drive the car as he had been disqualified.
Nicholls, of Ely, Cardiff, was jailed for four years at Newport Crown Court but Woodward walked free with a suspended sentence.
Both had pleaded guilty to possessing a class A drug with intent to supply.
Woodward cried as the judge, Recorder Victoria Hillier, told her she would be spared jail because “maternal imprisonment can cause significant trauma for a child”.
She added: "You acted as the driver and you did not set up the deal.
"You have always denied the handling of the drugs and you did not know the weight of them."
She told Woodward she had felt "control and pressure" from her boyfriend and that he "set up this drugs run for his benefit with his associates."
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“I take into account your young age and your lack of any previous convictions.
“You have been assessed as presenting a low risk of re-offending and there is a strong prospect of rehabilitation.”
Woodward, also of Ely, was handed a two year suspended sentence and told to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
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