A single mother who pleaded guilty to marijuana possession says she hid the drug at her home because she needed extra money to buy school supplies for her three young children.

Her name is Sunita Singh and police found 230 grams of marijuana at her Gopaul Avenue, Gasparillo home last Sunday.

34-year-old Ms. Singh was sent to jail for one year by Magistrate Alicia Chankar yesterday.

The court was told by Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan that last Sunday afternoon WPC Marshall, along with officers of the Gasparillo Police Station, executed a search warrant at Ms. Singh’s Gopaul Avenue, Gasparillo home.

13 foil packets of marijuana were found under a wooden kitchen cupboard.

Officers also found 200 empty blue plastic packs and a box containing 1,000 white wrapping sheets.

Ms. Singh’s attorney Annalee Girwar asked the court for leniency saying her client did janitorial and domestic work but her income could not cover the cost of school books and supplies for her children, who are aged 14, 11 and 6 years old.

Magistrate Alicia Chankar said it was clear that the drug was packaged to sell.

The Magistrate said she empathised with the woman’s situation but cannot condone what had happened.

The police claimed Singh told them that she had given the rest of marijuana to a man to sell last Friday, but Singh claimed she only told the police that she got the illegal drugs from the man.