A HEROIN addict who stole washing powder and T-shirts to feed her habit has been ordered to pay back the money to the shops from which she stole.

Donna Newman stole the items from four different stores in Worcester between April and September this year.

The 24-year-old of Drake Avenue, Dines Green, Worcester, was spotted in a clothes shop in Friary Walk by a member of the public putting the T-shirts into a plastic bag and walking out with them without paying.

Sallie Hewitt, prosecuting at Worcester Magistrates Court said someone from the clothing store challenged Newman outside and she ran off, dropping the bag which contained about 15 items, valued at £10 each.

Mrs Hewitt said New-man was spotted on CCTV at the Co-op store in Canada Way, Lower Wick, after a worker at the shop had spotted gaps in a shelf display and she was seen filling her bag with a number of items, including washing powder.

Newman was also seen to take more washing powder from the Co-op in Henwick Road, St John’s, and other items, including more than £50 worth of deodorants and shower gel at Tesco Express in Martley Road, St John’s.

The total products she was estimated to have stolen amounted to about £156. Newman admitted four counts of shoplifting.

In mitigation, Mark She-ward said Newman had been a user of heroin for the past two years and had been introduced to the drug by a boyfriend.

Magistrates gave New-man three-month concurrent sentences for each offence, suspended for 18 months.

She was also ordered to have 18 months of supervision, 18 months of a drug rehabilitation requirement and pay back compensation to the shops from which she stole.