A Suffolk mother who sold specialist formula milk she obtained on prescription for one of her children has walked free from court after a judge decided not to send her straight to prison.

Sarah Moore obtained £16,000 of Neocate – an expensive milk used for lactose intolerant children – above and beyond what was needed for her child and sold it for £2,500, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Moore, 35, of Tudor Close, Framlingham, admitted fraud by falsely representing she needed further prescriptions of Neocate formula to make a gain for herself between August 2013 and February 2014.

She was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, with a period of supervision by the probation service.

Sentencing Moore Judge David Goodin said: “You were in this for gain and a gain you made. You were acting entirely selfishly and went about getting more of this milk than you should have and tried to get rid of it on eBay in order to make a profit.”

He said although Moore’s profit was limited to £2,500, the loss to the “cash-strapped” NHS was £16,000.

Michael Crimp, prosecuting, said Moore had tried to sell the milk on eBay, but her advert was removed because it was considered an unacceptable product.

However, Moore was contacted by someone who saw the advert and paid her £2,500 for the milk over a period of six months.

Mr Crimp said the offence came to light as a result of a review of stock by the NHS during which it was discovered that £16,500 of Neocate over and above the needs of her child had been dispensed in Framlingham to Moore over a period of 11 months.

When Moore was interviewed about the fraud she admitted lying about how much Neocate her child needed and selling the surplus.

Marcus Croskell, for Moore, said his client had no previous convictions and was registered disabled.