A 49-YEAR-OLD woman caught with £1,000 of fake banknotes stashed in her handbag has avoided jail.

Pamela Wilson was approached by police while sitting in a friend's Vauxhall Vectra in Plumstead on July 10, 2006.

When they searched her, officers found 50 counterfeit notes hidden in her bag.

Wilson told police: "My nan gave them to me. You've got it all wrong."

When interviewed, she told detectives the dodgy notes were her friend's but later pleaded guilty to having counterfeit banknotes on the first day of her trial.

On Friday (June 6) at Blackfriars Crown Court Wilson, of Miriam Road, Plumstead, was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for a year.

She was also given a supervision order to attend a six-month detox programme.