A WOMAN who supplied heroin on the instructions of a boyfriend unable to get out of his bed has been jailed for 16 months.

Katie Hirschfield handed over a wrap worth £25 to a caller at their door, Worcester Crown Court heard.

But police were already watching the premises in Bath Road, Worcester, and detained the drug customer and the defendant.

Hirschfield was originally given a deferred sentence and then a drug treatment and testing order were substituted in a bid to end her long-standing heroin addiction, said prosecutor Antony Hartley.

But her attendance for drug therapy was sketchy and she continued to abuse drugs in a chaotic lifestyle. She also carried on shoplifting from Worcester stores to support her habit.

Judge Derek Stanley said the drug testing order had clearly failed. He had no alternative but to impose custody.

The court heard from defence counsel Peter Arnold that the brother of Hirschfield's boyfriend had died shortly before the heroin was supplied in March 2001.

Because of his state of mind over the tragedy, the boyfriend stayed in bed and instructed the defendant to carry out the hand-over.

Judge Stanley told 22-year-old Hirschfield, now of Coventry Avenue, Worcester, that it was low level dealing. She presented a sad picture to the court.

She pleaded guilty to heroin supply, possession of the drug, two counts of shoplifting and failing to surrender to bail.

Police first spotted her in a city park before she went to the house and carried out the supply.

Inside, they found more heroin under a hallway carpet and recovered some from the park, said Mr Hartley. The boyfriend was later jailed.

Mr Arnold said a report from Turning Point, the drug support agency, stated Hirschfield was more stable now than she had been for a long time. She would benefit from more therapy.

He added: "It is a tragedy for a bright young woman to be gripped by heroin for many years.

"She has tried, but been unable to shake it off."