Shoplifter with drug problem sent to jail

A long-time drug addict, said to be“a danger to herself”while at liberty, was jailed for a total of 12 months at Perth Sheriff Court this week after embarking on a catalogue of crime to feed her habit.

The court was told that 38-year-old Joanne Mayor, of Perth’s Scott Street, almost had her leg amputated last year after taking a“significant amount of drugs”.

She passed out on her kitchen floor for several hours. And when she woke up, she was unable to move.

Her circulation had been“cut off”and, as a result, she almost lost a limb.

Her doctor told her she was“lucky to keep her leg.”

A considerable amount of muscle and tissue had to be removed and she underwent a number of skin grafts, taken from other parts of her body. Mayor previously lived in Crieff.

She is currently serving a six-month sentence, imposed in January of this year.

She had been allowed bail to enable an assessment for a Drug Treatment and Testing Order to be completed.

But she was back in court just days later after a shoplifting spree to get cash to buy drugs.

Her lawyer told the court this week that she was due to be liberated on April 13 - and urged the sheriff to consider a community-based sentence.

During her time in prison, a new treatment plan had been drawn up involving an“alternative form of intervention.”

The plan was to move away from a methadone programme and provide a new type of medication.

The solicitor urged the sheriff to consider a community-based disposal.

But Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told the accused:“Sadly, I have absolutely no confidence whatsoever you will comply with such an order.

“Leaving aside your record, all the indications over the past 12 months point to that.”

He ordered that the 12-month jail term run from the end of her present sentence.

Mayor’s litany of shoplifting offences included thefts from Superdrug, Gringo’s Restaurant, Savers, Sainsbury’s and Superdrug, all in Perth, between July-September last year.

She also admitted the theft of a leather satchel containing more than £1100 worth of equipment, including a heart rate monitor, a laptop and a bank card reader from Chiropractic Life, in Scott Street, on June 5 last year.

Sheriff Foulis noted:“In this current climate, shoplifting is a drain on retailers who are struggling anyway.

“Leaving that aside, while at liberty, you are actually a danger to yourself.

“I would have thought that if anyone faced the prospect of losing a limb, that would potentially be a wake-up call for you.”

But the next month, she had “sneaked”into the Scott Street clinic and stolen high value items which were only recovered through a“matter of good fortune.”

Mayor, whom social workers once feared was“going to kill herself” because of drug abuse, admitted a lengthy list of previous convictions stretching back two decades.