A PROLIFIC west Cumbrian shoplifter began committing offences in her mid-30s after being asked to identify the body of her murdered mother, a court heard.

The tragic background was set out by the defence barrister representing Workington woman Lindsay Thompson.

The 39-year-old was being sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for a spate of recent offending which saw her steal goods worth more than £3,000 from Keswick's Booths supermarket.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke outlined the offences. He said the defendant, of Firth View Walk, Workington, committed the first of eight offences on September 23 when she went into Booths and filled a trolley with goods.

After a visit to the scratch card kiosk, she walked out, failing to pay for goods worth £599.

On October 1 she returned to the store, bought a scratch card and left the store making no attempt to pay for her trolley load of goods, worth £1,171.

Thompson stole £787 worth of items from the same store on October 15 and goods worth £684 on November 4. 

On November 6, she went into Superdrug in Workington and stole cosmetic gift sets worth £66. Merely by being in the store, she was in breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order that banned her from entering the store.

She committed yet more offences in Matalan in Workington on January 3 and January 8 when she stole baby clothes worth £120. Thompson admitted all eight offences.

Marion Weir, defending, said: "Miss Thompson, for three decades, was law abiding.

"But when she was in her mid 30s, her mother was murdered and she was responsible for the identification of the body."

That experience had a "significant detrimental effect" on the defendant, said Miss Weir. The barrister said that since the case was prosecuted, there had been no further offending. 

Miss Weir also said that Thompson was awaiting a potential cancer diagnosis and this had led to her relapsing into old habits.

Supported by her partner, she was receiving NHS help and her last two drugs tests had yielded negative results.

She was also being helped by a woman's charity in west Cumbria. "This is a young lady who can lead a law abiding life, and she wants to get out of the spiral of offending," added Miss Weir.

Judge Nicholas Barker told Thompson that she was a "thorough nuisance" to the local businesses she stole from.

There was a significant swell of opinion, said the judge, that shop thefts were disregarded by the police and the courts and that this crime was regarded as an "occupational hazard" for the businesses affected.

"But it's not," said the judge.

"These are hard times for businesses and this undermines their profits; it undermines the number of people they can employ; and it undermines what they can charge for their products so people have to pay more - all because of the thieving and stealing you undertake  - you and many others."

The judge said he had initially considered locking Thompson up for six months but there would be no work done with her and she would probably have left jail and returned to stealing.

"Society would be best served if your are not committing offences," said the judge. "Custody merely puts you out of action for a very short period."

He imposed a 12 month community order with 25 rehabilitation days, and a six month drug rehabilitation requirement.