A mum narrowly avoided jail after a drug dealer dropped off almost half a kilo of cocaine at her home before he took their children to school.
Dean Entwistle, 45, passed the drugs, which could have been worth up to £170,000, onto 44-year-old Sharon Todd while he went to school with his child and Ms Todd's child.
Police launched a surveillance operation into the pair, and struck after they saw Entwistle, from Stockport, hand over a package to her.
The drugs had been in Todd's home for about 90 minutes when police arrived and found the drugs hidden in the kitchen.
Todd, from Gorton, admitted that she was looking after the drugs, but said she thought the package contained amphetamine, not cocaine.
In court her barrister said that if she knew it contained class A drugs she never would have got involved.
At Manchester Crown Court Todd was spared jail, and received a 16 month sentence suspended for two years.
She was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, after her lawyer said Todd had a limited role and had no previous convictions.
Entwistle was jailed for four years.
Prosecuting, David Lees told how the pair were watched by police on March 21.
Officers looked on as Entwistle took a package to Todd's home before driving off.
When officers arrived at her home shortly after, she admitted that she knew the package contained drugs.
It included 498g of high-purity cocaine.
If the drugs were sold in bulk they could fetch up to £21,000, or if they were cut and sold on the streets it could have been worth as much as £170,000, the court heard.
Later that day Entwistle was arrested in a pub in Bramhall, where officers found he had £2,000 in cash.
Officers then searched his home and found a further 236g of cocaine, potentially worth up to £10,000 if sold in bulk or £80,000 if sold at street level.
They also found £33,150 in cash in a bedroom, as well as drugs paraphernalia including scales, a debtors list, and a hydraulic press.
The court heard Entwistle has previous convictions for dealing cannabis and conspiracy to rob.
Sentencing Todd, Judge Martin Rudland told her: "For a brief period of time you were the custodian for a significant quantity of class A drugs.
"That's a serious state of affairs.
"It does not seem to me that the public interest really demands that in this stage of your life to send you to prison, but this is serious."
Judge Rudland told Entwistle: "At 45 years of age you have been caught involving yourself in serious crime once again."
Entwistle, of George Street East, Stockport, and Todd, of Sheerness Street, Gorton, both pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Entwistle also pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property.
