A FORMER national car franchise boss who ended up as a drugs runner on the streets of Burnley has been spared jail by a crown court recorder.

Police trailed Angela Clipstone, 42, after she was spotted acting suspiciously on Burns Street, in Daneshouse, the town’s crown court was told.

She ran down the street towards Throstle Close and was seen by an eyewitness to hide drugs underneath a parked car.

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Karen Brooks, prosecuting, said when police community support officers arrived on the scene they were directed to the car and Clipstone was detained nearby.

One of the officers discovered around six-and-a-half grams of heroin in a plastic bag – with an estimated street value of around £400. But when she was interviewed by police later she denied hiding the drugs and claimed it must have been someone else.

The court heard that the police had been keeping another suspected drug dealer under observation when they were alerted to Clipstone’s possible involvement in dealing.

Clipstone, also previously known as Angela Wellock, of Burnley Road, Padiham, admitted possession of heroin with intent to supply.

Katie Jones, defending, said: “She is a lady who has had a lot of tragedies which have befallen her in recent times and she is very concerned about her partner, who is in hospital.”

The university-educated defendant had, until her more recent problems, worked as the national recruitment and training manager for a national car franchise, and was well-regarded in that position.

Recorder Andrew Long sentenced her to an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, on condition she completes a specified activities course and 180 hours community service.

Passing sentence, he added: “I am not quite sure that we have got to the bottom of how you became involved in these offences. I will sentence you on the basis that you were recruited for a short period of time for a small financial involvement, and you were basically a courier for these drugs.”