A BRADFORD mum duped by a man she trusted into distributing MCAT from her home has told of her huge relief that her nightmare ordeal is over.

Helen Brookes wept with emotion at Bradford Crown Court yesterday when a jury cleared her of plotting to import and distribute the Class B drug, smuggled into the UK from China.

Jailing her co-accused, Derrick Smith, 49, for eight years, Judge Peter Benson said he had exploited Mrs Brookes and abused her trust to distance himself from his crimes.

Mrs Brookes, 51, of Buttermere Road, Undercliffe, was found not guilty of conspiring to fraudulently evade the prohibition on MCAT and conspiring to supply it.

Smith, of Keldregate, Huddersfield, was convicted of both charges.

Judge Benson said it was clear he had played a leading role in running "a highly profitable and successful business".

Smith had previous convictions for burglary, possession of cannabis and amphetamine and supplying articles for use in fraud.

The judge said it was an aggravating feature of Smith's case that he had misled a wholly innocent woman into packaging the drugs for him.

The police seized more than a kilo of MCAT from Mrs Brookes' home when they raided it on March 6, 2013.

Smith, a trusted friend from 30 years back, told her the white powder he was delivering to her home in boxes was plant food.

He wrote out an "idiot's guide" for her to log on to a computer to process the orders.

She was instructed to pack the powder into DVD cases and Jiffy bags to send out from local Post Offices.

Mrs Brookes, who has no criminal convictions, was paid up to £200 a week to work for Smith.

After she was cleared, she told the Telegraph & Argus: "This has been a terrible ordeal for me and my family. I have suffered a serious breakdown that put me in hospital.

"I thought Derrick Smith was a friend, but he duped and used me. He put me through an appalling nightmare but at least everyone now knows the truth, that I am completely innocent and always have been.

"I don't want people to judge me. I would never have had anything to do with drugs, legal or illegal.

"On behalf of my family, I would just like to give all the jurors a big hug."