A BASINGSTOKE drugs user acted as a runner for a London dealer in return for wraps of heroin.

Karen Skilton was arrested at her home in Rooksdown after the police became suspicious that drug-dealing was taking place there.

The 33-year-old volunteered two wraps of crack cocaine to officers and they found a third in her sock when she was searched at Basingstoke police station, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Skilton, of Spinney Court, Rooksdown, Basingstoke, appeared in the dock having admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply.

The court heard her guilty plea was on the basis she was a “runner”, doing it in return for wraps of heroin for her own use.

Rob Welling, prosecuting, said: “Officers attended her home address on August 20 this year and found a 17-year-old. He was a man from London who we would describe as being an insurgent dealer.”

Skilton was arrested and taken to the police station. Her phone was found to contain messages with instructions on where and what drugs to deal, Mr Welling said.

The court heard Skilton has sought help for her addiction since her arrest, attending the Jacobs House service in Basingstoke twice a week.

Judge Andrew Barnett said Skilton’s role was “very much at the bottom of the chain of supply” but told her that such drugs can wreck lives.

He sentenced her to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for one year, with a drug rehabilitation requirement and a supervision order.