An aspiring rap artist has been handed community service after being caught red-handed with cocaine in her Prada handbag.

Jamielyn Delacruz, 32, of Aldborough Road South, Seven Kings, was spotted driving a BMW erratically along the A12 Eastern Avenue, in the early hours of September 25.

When police pulled her over in Lynton Crescent, Gants Hill, they found a wrap of cocaine and a rolled up banknote in her Prada handbag.

Magistrates heard on Thursday at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court how Miss Delacruz, who lives with her parents, had recently achieved success in the Philippines with her hip hop music, and had received offers to travel to America to work with producers on an album there.

She was sentenced to a six month community order, with 50 hours community service and told to pay costs of �85.