A woman caught with nearly an ounce of cocaine, worth about £1,000, when she arrived at Truro railway station was acquitted on Tuesday of having possession of the drug with intent to supply another. The Truro Crown Court jury was in retirement for less than 20 minutes before returning their unanimous verdict.

The defendant, 46-year-old Jacqueline Pace, manager of the Hillside House bed and breakfast establishment in The Square, Portscatho, has been remanded on bail to await sentence early next month for the possession of the drug, and of small quantities of amphetamine and morphine, which she had admitted earlier.

Prosecutor Philip Lee told the court that Pace was arrested on November 30 last year when she was seen to be obviously trying to avoid police officers involved in a drugs operation at the railway station. She had the cocaine and about £7,000 in cash in a rucksack. At first she lied, claiming she had found the drugs and money in Brixton, and also that the drugs had found its way into her pocket and she did not know what it was. She then admitted she had lied because she panicked and that she was a drug's user and had bought the cocaine for her personal use.

A woman of previous good character, Pace said she had started taking drugs in London in the early 1990's and that her use had increased after she formed a relationship with a dealer who was manipulative. She came to Cornwall in 2003 to manage the bed and breakfast establishment for her friend, receiving her accommodation and £100 a week.

In November last year she went to London to take her cat to her parents' home, and she took with her £8,000 in cash from the safe because there was an "odd" woman staying in the bed and breakfast residence. It was cheaper and easier for her to buy a bulk supply of cocaine in London which would last her for several months.

Judy Manning, who with her property manager partner owns Hillside House, described Pace, a friend since the late 1980's, as an "incredibly lovely person". When Pace wanted to get away from the Brixton party scene she made her manager of the establishment and she had done a fantastic job. The money seized by the police belonged to the business and had been put aside to pay Pace a bonus when she wanted it.

Defence counsel Zoe Van Den Bosch stressed that although Pace had been a drug's user for years there was no evidence that she was a dealer. No cocaine had been found in her home, and there were no scales, dealers' lists or bags used to split drugs into deals.