36 year old “grandmother” stole £1200 worth of alcohol and clothes to fund drug habit

A 36 year old “grandmother” stole more than £1,200-worth of clothes and booze when she raided two stores on five occasions.

Jodie Denham, 36, sometimes helped herself to goods from the same shop twice within an hour when she brazenly walked in, grabbed her loot and ran out.

The mother-of-three, who has just got out of prison for a previous 10 week sentence in August, stole £1,151-worth of jeans and t-shirts from Urban Outfitters, in Newcastle City Centre, and £83-worth of wine from Tesco, just yards away from the courts on Newcastle’s Quayside.

She then targeted a Tesco stole twice within one hour.

The court heard her thefts were driven by the need to fund her drug addiction.

Denham, of Denmark Street, in Byker, has now promised to try and change for the “sake of her grandchild” when she appeared in the dock to plead guilty to six counts of shop theft.

She was given a 12-month community order and must abide by a curfew from 7pm until 7am for the next six months.

Kash Khan, defending, said Denham had been struggling with a drug problem since she was 16 and was using crack-cocaine at the time of the thefts. He added: “She planned to sell the goods to by crack-cocaine and alcohol.”

Mr Khan added: “She now has a grandchild and wants to change her life for that child. I would say you could sentence her in the community.”