A SHOPLIFTER who worked with her drug addicted boyfriend to take items from Swindon supermarkets has been jailed.

Leanne Hurd, 27, most recently of Queen’s Drive, admitted the five theft offences when she appeared before Swindon magistrates on Saturday.

The court heard she had entered the stores while her boyfriend waited outside.

Prosecutor Keith Ballinger said on one occasion when she was challenged by shop staff at Sainsbury’s, her boyfriend came in and snatched the trolley of goods before making off.

When interviewed by police, Hurd, who is homeless, confessed to stealing the items in order to fund accommodation and buy drugs for herself and her boyfriend.

Previous shoplifting offences had earned Hurd a suspended 12-week prison sentence, meaning she ran the risk of jail time by committing any further thefts.

Defending, Tony Hall said Hurd had been manipulated by her boyfriend: “They were not married, so it was not a case of for better, for worse. It was a case of for worse and worse.”

Hurd was trying her best to improve her situation, he added. The mother-of-two had an appointment to set up a prescription for heroin substitute methadone, but missed it when she was arrested on Friday.

However, magistrates opted to sentence Hurd to nine weeks in prison for stealing while subject to a suspended sentence. She must serve a further nine weeks for the latest thefts and pay a £115 victim surcharge.