A woman caught selling crack cocaine on a towpath has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Alisha Mann, 19 of Bryant Avenue, Slough, appeared at Reading Crown Court on Thursday.

She had been arrested on September 26 on a canal towpath near Newbury Football Club after police officers saw her doing a drug deal.

When she was arrested, she was found to be concealing five saleable packages of heroin and two of crack cocaine in her clothes. A search of the area she had been sitting in found a further 35 packages of heroin and crack cocaine and a bundle of cash totalling £640, which was believed to be from the proceeds of selling drugs.

Mann was charged on February 17 and pleaded guilty to the offences at Reading Magistrates’ Court on March 6.

At Thursday’s court appearance for sentencing, she was given a 20 month sentence for possession with intent to supply heroin, a 20 month sentence for possession with intent to supply cocaine and a one week sentence for possession of cannabis, all to run concurrently. The total sentence of one year and eight months’ imprisonment was suspended for 18 months.

She was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and the £640 was forfeited under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Investigating officer PC Jamie Hanks, from Newbury Police Station, said: “This is a clear case of county-line drug dealing, where a gang from London were operating in Newbury. I believe that Mann got involved in this through naivety, attracted by the opportunity to make quick money before going to university. Throughout her short drug-dealing career, she was aware of the seriousness of dealing class A drugs and the consequences.

“We will continue to target and arrest county-line dealers in Newbury, but we can only do this with the help of the public. I would urge anyone with information about drug dealing in their communities to inform police by calling 101, or reporting it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.”