Persistent shoplifter Victoria Grimmett, 32, who carried on stealing from Tewkesbury stores despite a Criminal Behaviour Order imposed on her last summer, has been jailed for ten months.

The crack cocaine addict, formerly of Cheltenham but now of Court Farm Close, Pamington, near Tewkesbury, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court on Monday (March 11) to four thefts and three breaches of the Order she received last June.

The court was told that on September 11, 2023 - three months after the tough court order was imposed - she walked out of the Holland and Barrett health food store in Tewkesbury with £714.98 worth of sports supplements.

A shop assistant spotted that a lot of stock had disappeared from the shelves so CCTV was checked and Grimmett was seen loading the supplements into a 'bag for life' and walking out.

Just three days after that theft Grimmett appeared before Cheltenham Magistrates Court for an earlier spate of thefts and breaches of her criminal behaviour order and was jailed for eight weeks, said prosecutor Nadeem Aulloybocus.

After serving that sentence, however, she went back to crime. At 11.50pm on December 13, she went into a BP forecourt shop in Tewkesbury and stole 20 bottles of beer and a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates worth a total of £46.20. The store manager was able to identify her to police.

Mr Aullybocus said that on December 21, Grimmett went into Tesco on Bishops Way and stole food including a Finest Christmas pudding from the meal deal display and walked out through a one way barrier when it opened to allow a customer in.

Tesco estimated the value of the stock she stole at £50.

On February 1, 2024, said the prosecutor, Grimmett returned to the Holland and Barrett store in Tewkesbury and this time walked out with sports supplements worth £29.99. She was identified by the same member of staff who had been on duty the previous time Grimmett stole from the shop.

"She was arrested on February 11, 2024, and made full and frank admissions," said Mr Aullybocus.

"She told the police that the food items she stole were for herself to eat and the sports supplements were to be sold to pay for her drug use. She apologised and said she needed help."

He told the court Grimmett has 30 previous convictions for 91 offences, most of them of a similar nature.

She had a history of theft and of disobedience towards court orders, he said.

Defence solicitor Steve Young said he acknowledged that there had to be an immediate jail term for Grimmett's latest spate of offending and breach of the criminal behaviour order.

She had been addicted to crack cocaine, he said, since the death of her father in 2018 - an event which had triggered her 'downward spiral into significant drug misuse.'

Mr Young added "She missed her father's funeral because she was in custody.

"Also, she witnessed the death of her partner's mother, and this had a significant effect on her."

He said one of the problems she had had with complying with court orders is that she receives benefits of only £276 a month and yet is required to travel to Gloucester or Cheltenham regularly at her own expense to attend supervision and rehabilitation appointments.

The judge, Recorder James Bromige, told Grimmett: "Your life has been blighted since 2017, if not before, by Class A drugs. You shoplift on a frequent basis to feed your addiction.

"The latest offences are also persistent breaches of your Criminal Behaviour Order."

He sentenced her to 10 months jail and amended her Criminal Behaviour Order so that she remains banned from all retail premises in Gloucestershire except the Co-op in Northway Lane, Tewkesbury, and a Lloyds Pharmacy in the High Street. Previously, when she was living in Cheltenham, the order had barred her from all retail premises except her local Tesco and a chemist in Cheltenham.

The Criminal Behaviour Order remains in force till June 13, 2026.

The judge reminded her that the order does not prevent her going into restaurants, pubs and fast-food outlets when she is released from prison.