A DESPERATE woman who robbed her own 85-year-old grandmother in a bid to buy drugs has avoided a jail sentence.

Danielle Bennett attacked the elderly woman by holding the serrated edge of a knife against the pensioner’s throat before grabbing £180 from her purse.

Bennett, 33, admitted the “cruel and cowardly” attack on the OAP at an address in Tranent when she appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The drug addict returned to court for sentencing yesterday (Thursday), where Sheriff Frank Crowe stopped short of jailing her after he heard the mother-of-one had served the equivalent of a six-month sentence while on remand.

Solicitor Angela Craig, defending, also said that Bennett had been engaging with drug addiction services while inside prison and the offence was “out of character” for her client.

Sheriff Crowe said: “I think you now realise this was a very cruel and cowardly attack on your grandmother.

“She is an elderly lady and fortunately [for you] she’s has been very magnanimous about it all.”

Bennett, from Musselburgh, was sentenced to 18 months of supervision and told she must complete 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Bennett pleaded guilty to assaulting her grandmother, aged 85, by holding a knife to her throat and robbing her of £180 in cash at an address in Tranent on March 18.