A WOMAN left Skipton Magistrates Court after being sentenced for shoplifting and went to Marks and Spencer where she stole several packs of steak and a plant.

Donna Marie Hardy, 42, had been spotted by staff in Boots in the High Street on April 28 with another woman acting suspiciously, the Skipton court heard on Friday.

The police were alerted and she was stopped shortly later in Newmarket Street where she was found with the items from Marks and Spencer, together with some food from Greggs, in the High Street, said prosecutor, Melanie Ibbotson.

Three days earlier, on April 25, Hardy had set an alarm off at Tesco, Skipton, when she had tried to leave without paying for two bottles of whisky, worth £50, said Ms Ibbotson.

A security officer tried to stop her, but she took off with staff members in pursuit into the car park, leaving one of the bottles of whisky in a bush, which was retrieved.

Hardy explained to police on that occasion she intended to sell the whisky for money to get home to Shipley.

In mitigation, Mohammed Hussain, said Hardy had taken to drugs early in life and had moved to West Yorkshire from the North East to escape an abusive relationship. He said she had also been diagnosed with bi-polar and had a number of psychological issues.

Mr Hussain said she could not explain why she had stolen the plant and wondered if she had suffered a reaction from something she had been given by someone she knew earlier while in court.

Hardy, of Wycliffe Gardens, Shipley, who admitted stealing two bottles of whisky from Tesco on April 25; £10.10 of salad items from Greggs, and £140.75 of steak and a plant from Marks and Spencer on April 28, had her earlier community order revoked and replaced with a new one.

A 12 month order will include a nine month drug rehabilitation programme and an eight week curfew from 7am to 7pm. Hardy, who the court heard already owed £1,600 in outstanding fines, was not ordered to pay costs, but will have to pay £85 surcharge.

All the items were recovered. The other woman was dealt with by means of a community resolution disposal, the court was told.