A WOMAN who stole to pay back her drug debts has been jailed for eight weeks.

Deborah Bayley, of Sea View Road in Parkstone, admitted stealing a Craghopper jacket worth £130 from Beales at the Dolphin Centre, Poole.

But Bournemouth Magistrates heard that the 51-year-old had ‘struggled valiantly’ to rid herself of a drug addiction before falling into a dependency on methadone, and later alcohol.

Nicola Reece, prosecuting, said the defendant entered Beales and selected a Craghopper jacket on March 8 at 3.30pm “She concealed it inside a large blue bag and then left, making no attempt to pay,” she added.

Mike Flynn, mitigating, said Bayley had been working hard to overcome her problems.

“She is a lady who has troubled the courts on many occasions,” he admitted.

He added: “She had major problems with a drug dependency, and struggled valiantly with that before becoming dependant on methadone.”