A STUDENT drug dealer who continued to sell cannabis despite being on a community payback order for an identical previous offence has been spared jail once again.

Angelene Few 'spectacularly' breached an unpaid work directive for the original offence by falsifying a letter purporting to be from her college in order to get out of doing it.

But the 20-year-old — who says she doesn't take drugs and deals purely to make money — has been allowed to walk from court after a sheriff was told she was at risk of becoming a 'vulnerable person'.

Few was caught with more than £2,500 stashed in her flat following a tip-off to police in February that she was peddling cannabis around Greenock from her red-coloured Ford Ka.

Whilst on the community order for that offence she was found just four months later to be still selling the drug after £800 worth of it was seized from her flat on the town's Lyle Street.

Few's lawyer said: "She does regret falsifying the letter and not attending the work.

"She has anxiety and stress issues and when the second offence occurred things went off the rails for her.

"It would appear that stress regarding external matters of finance led her to deal again."

Greenock Sheriff Court heard how Few has been allowed to continue with a course in travel and tourism at West College Scotland.

Her solicitor said: "She does not use illicit substances herself."

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre responded: "That just tells me that she is exploiting others for financial gain, and she breached her community payback order in a quite spectacular fashion."

Few's lawyer said: "If she goes into custody she would lose her college place and her accommodation.

"Once released she could become a vulnerable person who falls by the wayside if she is not given adequate supports."

Few has been ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work within nine months, and also placed on an electronic tag to remain at home between 7pm and 7am each day for six months.

Meanwhile, social workers are to keep her under supervision for a year.

Sheriff McIntyre told her: "I have given a lot of thought to this because my instinct initially was to send you to prison.

"But I have to keep in mind High Court guidelines for people of your age, and the presumption is that there should be no sentence of under one year unless there is no alternative.

"I take into account that you have pleaded guilty at an early stage and that would be reflected in any sentence and result in one of under a year.

"I find myself reaching the conclusion that I should consider a very severe community payback order, although I have reservations regarding your conduct on the previous order."

Few was warned that if she breaches her any part of the sheriff's ruling she will be facing a two-year jail term.