A grandmother has been jailed for supplying class A drugs in Borehamwood.

Aneasia Palmer, who used the alias Candy', sold crack cocaine and heroin to undercover police officers at three locations in Borehamwood between June and July last year.

St Albans Crown Court heard on Friday that Palmer, 43, of Essex, was part of a drug dealing business known as the candy line'.

Isabel Delamere, prosecuting, said the undercover officers rang a number they had been given and Palmer answered as Candy'.

She agreed to meet them three times - in Whitehouse Avenue, Cardinal Avenue and Manor Way - and each time sold them crack cocaine or heroin.

She was arrested in June last year and pleaded guilty to six counts of supplying class A drugs.

Last year's undercover sting was part of a wider police operation in Borehamwood, including a dawn raid, which has seen more than 30 people convicted.

Following Palmer's conviction, Sergeant Jack Wynn said: "Aneasia Palmer had been due to be arrested on the day the operation was carried out but saw police activity and went into hiding.

"The fact that she has now been brought to justice shows the lengths we will go to to track dealers down.

"This evil trade doesn't just affect those people who are convicted, it inflicts damage on the communities it's happening in and raises the levels of crime and fear in an area."

Ms Delamere told the court Palmer had a previous conviction for drug dealing and had served a prison sentence in 2002.

Palmer is originally from Jamaica and the Home Office is still investigating whether she was an illegal immigrant, she added.

Defending, Lucy Corine said Palmer had to leave Jamaica because she feared for her safety - she had witnessed her husband's murder and was attacked with acid.

She arrived in the UK with her children in 1999 and re-married.

Ms Corine said: "It was Palmer's second husband and his brother who introduced her to crack cocaine and she became addicted. Her marriage broke up and when she was released from prison for drug possession she was homeless and had no income, she was offered a place to stay if she sold drugs."

Ms Corine said Palmer had since been weaning herself off drugs for the sake of her children and grandchildren and was getting back into her original work as a hairdresser.

She had also found a home in Gurney Close, Barking.

Judge Marie Catterson gave Palmer credit for her guilty pleas and attempts to clean up her life, but told her supplying class A drugs was a serious offence that merits a prison sentence'.

Palmer will serve 44 months in prison, concurrent for each of the six counts.

Three other members of the candy line', also arrested during the undercover operation, have been convicted.