A WORCESTER woman turned to drugs and crime to forget her violent mother after being failed by the system, magistrates were told.

Judith Kenney, defending, told Droitwich magistrates Caroline Davis committed crime to finance her heroin habit after being left to live a "nomadic" existence.

She said her client, who was charged with four counts of theft, failing to surrender to bail and handling stolen goods, needed compassion to help overcome her problems.

"This is a woman who the system put into care because of violence from her mother and then damaged her," she said.

"While in care she started to take drugs. Then she was allowed to become homeless."

T-shirt and socks

Paddy Sullivan, prosecuting, told the court the 23-year-old - who was living in her car - stole a T-shirt and socks from Kays & Co while she worked there in October, 1999.

She admitted this, and stealing £40 of Emporium perfume from Ogles in St John's and handling spectacles, valued at £529, stolen from city opticians Actons.

Mrs Kenney added Davies, who stopped using drugs during a spell at Brockhill Prison, had stolen items of small value to fund her habit and to eat.

She appealed to magistrates to find her a hostel place in Worcester. She had become homeless and begun taking drugs again after refusing to live in a hostel in Reading.

"We shouldn't be allowing a single woman with her vulnerabilities to be in a system where she is being passed from pillar to post," Mrs Kenney added.

Davis was remanded in custody for drug treatment and a testing report before her next court appearance on Thursday, May 24.