A 30-YEAR-OLD drug dealer who used to live near Cirencester has avoided an immediate jail term today.

Bonita Cainey, formerly of Burcombe, Woodmancote, near Cirencester, but now of no fixed address, admitted having ketamine with intent to supply, being concened in the supply of cocaine and possessing mephedrone.

The prosecution said the scale of her offending called for a jail term of between three and a half and seven years at Gloucester Crown Court today, Thursday, June 15.

However, after hearing about her troubled past and current health problems Judge Martin Picton said reduced the sentence to two years - the maximum term which can be suspended. 

He felt there was a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation if she was not jailed immediately.

The judge sentenced her to two years imprisonment suspended for two years and placed her on a two year community order with 30 rehabilitation activity days working with the Nelson Trust.

He also ordered her to undergo therapy for her drug addiction.

She must return to court for monthly reviews of her progress during this sentence and the first review will take place on Wednesday, July 12. 

The judge had heard that traumatic experiences in Cainey's such has losing a baby which led her to turn to drugs as a coping strategy.

Cainey now suffers from a bladder condition caused by her use of ketamine and has also had a recent thyroid cancer scare.

Prosecutor Ehsanul Oarith said police went to Cainey's home on July 24 last year and found drugs and dealing paraphernalia such as scales and a dealer's list.

Texts on her phone showed she had been dealing from October 2021.

The police seized 176.8grams of ketamine, 749mgs of cocaine and 9.74g of mephedrone.

Mr Oarith said she was playing a significant role in drug dealing and making significant financial gain.

He also said that text messages showed she was also managing others who were dealing on her behalf.

A probation officer who had interviewed Cainey earlier today told the court that she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and had recently lost a child at the time of offending.

He said: "She is struggling to free herself of her drug addiction and she is still using ketamine and cocaine.

"She receives £740 a month Universal Credit and says she spends all of this on illegal substances.

"However, we are of the view that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation."

Barrister Catherine Spedding said: "Her significant health difficulties would place her at real disadvantage if she were sentenced to immediate custody."