A THIEF who used her four-year-old daughter to trick her way into houses was jailed yesterday.

Teesside Crown Court was told that Anita Collins, 36, was allowed into three houses after asking if the girl could use the lavatory.

Collins admitted stealing gold jewellery from a house, which she later sold to a pawnbroker for £100.

She committed the crime a fortnight after she was given a 12-month community rehabiliation order for two similar burglaries, said Robin Turton, prosecuting.

Sam Faulks, mitigating, said Collins was unusual in that she committed the crimes for money, not to buy drugs or drink,

He added:"She has been in custody since Christmas Eve and her time inside has been a salutary lesson.

"She does not possess the thick skin of many offenders. She has been distressed and she has received threats from others. She just wants to be reunited with her daughter, who is being looked after by her grandmother."

Collins, of Vicarscroft, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was jailed for nine months after she pleaded guilty to the November 30 burglary in Romanby Road, Northallerton, and obtaining money by deception.