A JUDGE said a yoga teacher caught with £8,000 in criminal property was "keeping her cards close to her chest" about where it came from.

Antonia Bettridge was pulled over by police on the M62 in Warrington on her return from a journey to the Bristol area with thousands of pounds in cash.

The 23-year-old, from St Helens, refused to give up the name of a "friend", to whom she was doing a "favour" by travelling to the West Country.

But this did not stop the Crown Prosecution Service from prosecuting her, and she was sentenced this afternoon, Thursday, at Liverpool Crown Court for possessing criminal property.

The facts of the case were outlined by David Polglase, prosecuting, who informed the court how the offence dates back to December 22, 2021.

The defendant was driving a vehicle on the M62 westbound, near to junction nine for Winwick, when she was instructed to follow police.

Officers led Bettridge from the motorway to B&Q Winwick and asked her if she was carrying any money in the car.

She had some in her handbag and explained that she had been to the Trafford Centre, but during a search of her vehicle, police found around £8,000 in the glovebox.

When asked about the money, Bettridge said she understood what was going on and that she did not wish to say anything more.

The court heard that the Crown does not know anything more about the underlying offending due to the defendant refusing to provide further information.

It was ascertained however that she had driven from the West Country in the south east, visiting Gordano motorway service station at junction 19 of the M5 near Bristol and heading back.

“The Crown have their suspicions but nothing more as to that,” Mr Polglase said, with the defendant being sentenced on the basis that there was just one journey, despite evidence that she had made similar journeys before.

He added that there was no suggestion of Betteridge having been coerced to do what she did and that she played an "important function", albeit under direction.

Antonia Bettridge was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court

Antonia Bettridge was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court

The prosecution also said that there must have been a degree of planning and that the defendant must have had some idea of what was going on.

It was added that the money has already been forfeited, with no need for any Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings.

Mitigation was offered by Eve Salter, defending, who explained that her client has no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to the matter.

She said that Bettridge made the journey "as a favour to a friend" with "no motivation for personal gain".

However, the presiding judge interjected that she has not given up the name of the friend to the police and is "playing her cards close to her chest".

“She is remorseful for what she did. At the time of the incident she was 21. The decision she made was as a result of naivety and immaturity,” Ms Salter said.

“She has gone a long way since to put her life back on track and focus on a more adult approach to life.”

The court also heard that Bettridge is set to complete her yoga qualification and has started a sport massage course and personal trainer qualifications.

Imposing a community sentence, recorder Daniel Lister said: “No one can tell me much about what was going on, what criminality and what your role was.

“It is clear you are someone who behaved, as a young person back then, immaturely and naively.”

He added: “This is serious criminality, and if you engage in this type of behaviour again, the outcome is likely to be very different indeed.”

Betteridge, of Greenfield Road in Dentons Green, St Helens, was handed a 12-month community order, including 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 75 hours of unpaid work.