A MOTHER-OF-THREE has appeared in court after she bought prescription drugs on eBay to help her sleep.

Toni Anne Hill, 25, had 15 tablets of diazepam in a bag when police arrested her on Gowthorpe, Selby, at 11.30pm on January 11, Alex Johnson told York magistrates.

Hill told police they were sleeping tablets. Possessing diazepam is illegal without a prescription.

Her solicitor, Julian Tanikal, said she had had difficulty sleeping since the death of her partner during one of her pregnancies. She had been to her GP but was not satisfied with his advice, so she bought the diazepam via the internet auction site eBay thinking it was legal because the purchase was via eBay.

Hill, of Carr Street, Selby, pleaded guilty to possessing a Class C drug and was given a six-month conditional discharge, plus £85 prosecution costs and a £15 statutory surcharge.

She also admitted missing an earlier court date which Mr Tanikal said had been due to a genuine mix-up over dates.

Hill has previous convictions and was given a community order earlier this year for an assault and a public order offence also committed on January 11. It was when police arrested her for those offences they found the diazepam.