A SERIAL Brierley Hill shoplifter has been spared jail after stealing from stores in the area to buy drugs.

Recorder Roderick Evans described Toni Dainty as a “persistent thief” and told her: “You have an absolutely deplorable criminal record.”

He said it was clear she was a professional shoplifter, adding: “I could send you away for several years but I am going to give you one last chance. Make sure you take it.”

Dainty, 31, of Bent Street, admitted stealing £50 worth of frozen food from the Iceland store in Dudley and also breaching a community order imposed for theft and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Howard Searle, prosecuting, said Dainty was able to leave the store with the stolen food but the offence was caught on CCTV and she was quickly recognised and arrested by police.

Mr Searle told Wolverhampton Crown Court: “There are 55 previous convictions on her record going back to 1998 and it is clear she steals to buy drugs.”

Simon Hanns, defending Dainty – who was placed on Supervision for a year and ordered to attend the Drug Rehabilitation Programme – said she had been trying to put her life back in order.

“Her record is typical of someone who has been blighted by a heroin addiction for over 13 years,” he said. “She does not want to spend the rest of her life addicted to drugs.”

He said Dainty, who was further told she must obey a three month curfew order between the hours of 8pm and 6am, accepted she had a “rather inglorious record”.