‘Controlling boyfriend’ behind theft

she was detained.

On April 27 at Lidl in Manchester Road, Hargreaves stuffed a tray of Dove deodorant into her bag but was stopped by the security officer outside.

She asked magistrates to take a further three thefts from the Co-op and Asda into account when sentencing her.

They were told that she only started to offend in 2017 when she started using Class A drugs following the death of the father of her four children.

The children were taken into care and she spiralled into self-destruction, her solicitor Sonia Kidd said.

She said: “She became involved with her co-accused and he controls her.

“He tells her she won’t get into trouble because she’s a woman and won’t go to prison.”

Mrs Kidd explained that her client had tried to escape her boyfriend but then he would get her back and tell her not to go to court.

She said: “She’s incredibly vulnerable and it’s the Class A drug problem he’s assisting with.

“There needs to be a separation to enable her to turn her life around which is what she’s trying to do.”

Mrs Kidd added that when the burglary took place Hargreaves’ boyfriend created access to the shop, then pushed her inside and told her to steal what she could find.

Magistrates heard that she currently has a crack cocaine habit and uses six bags of heroin a day.

They sentenced Hargreaves, who appeared from custody, to a community order with 20 rehabilitation days aimed at addressing her offending behaviour and drug misuse.

She will have to pay £85 compensation to TK Maxx for the clothing not recovered.