SHE was an Avon lady who sold cosmetics to help make ends meet for her family.

But a court heard how mounting debts led desperate mother-of-three Dawn Susan Lambert to start dealing in altogether less reputable goods.

Lambert, 24, of Rawdon Avenue, Tang Hall, York, escaped jail at a court hearing yesterday after police uncovered her drug dealing.

Diane Campbell, prosecuting, said detectives found cannabis with a street value of more than £1,000 when they raided Lambert's home on November 15.

Defence barrister Paul Williams said she had turned to drug dealing to pay off debts when she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant.

Lambert pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply it.

"You were a regular drug pusher. Although it is only cannabis and there is a debate about it, it is still against the law. You have become a serious criminal," Judge Jim Spencer QC told her.

"It seems to me you ought to have some help from the probation service."

As Lambert wept in the dock of York Crown Court, he ordered her to do two years' community rehabilitation.

Miss Campbell said Lambert had told police she had bought two nine-ounce bars of cannabis resin for £300 apiece and expected to get £40 profit per bar.

Mr Williams said her partner, Mark Hunter, was a regular cannabis user and out of work. She was the family's main source of income, working as a care assistant and selling Avon products, and had needed money to buy essential items for the children.

She had only been dealing for at most two months and only sold to friends she knew were cannabis users. She owed £2,500.

Updated: 10:11 Saturday, June 07, 2003