A WOMAN burglar was given a last chance by a judge yesterday for the sake of her baby.

Teesside Crown Court was told that Nicola Leonard, 22, was a heroin addict who had been introduced to crime by her alcoholic mother.

Leonard, of Brentford Court, Brotton, east Cleveland, stole cash and bank cards during burglaries and then went cashback shopping in supermarkets, said Robert Terry, prosecuting.

Police who searched Leonard's home found stolen cards and a till receipt from a Somerfield supermarket, in Guisborough.

She admitted stealing them from a neighbour and also from a print shop in Saltburn. Leonard told officers that she needed money to pay off debts because of her drug use.

Chrisine Egerton, mitigating, said: "Her mother suffers from an alcohol problem and her offending began when she was with her. There may have been some pressure to commit offences to support her mother's alcohol problem."

She said Leonard was excluded from school at 13, and she only caught up on her education when she was sent to prison for burglary.

Miss Egerton said: "She stopped taking heroin in August when she was arrested for these burglaries. She knows that she must sort herself out for the sake of her child. She has been absolutely terrified of going to custody because of her son."

The judge, Recorder Michael Slater, told Leonard: "I am going to give you a chance to change your life."

He deferred sentence for six months on Leonard, who admitted two burglaries, obtaining by deception and attempted deception last July. She had five similar offences taken into consideration.

He said that she would get an 18-month jail sentence if she failed.

She was remanded on bail, with conditions that she committed no further offences, attended a probation programme, and stayed drug-free.