A SERIAL shoplifter escaped jail yesterday.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Kerry Warburton was arrested on May 6 after stealing a £17.99 bottle of perfume from Asda in South Shields.

The 21-year-old committed the offence as she pushed her one-year-old baby son around the store in his pushchair.

She was released on police bail but caught again on June 7 after helping herself to £16.88 worth of chocolate from a newsagent.

Again she was released on bail and, a month later, stole a tile cutter from B&Q.

She appeared before Newcastle Crown Court on September 2 and was released on bail awaiting sentence after admitting the offences.

A day later, she was caught taking a jar of coffee from Kwik Save in South Shields.

Despite her record, Warburton, of Victoria Road, South Shields, who is pregnant with her second child, was given a second chance yesterday when the court heard she stole because she fell foul to loan sharks.

Judge David Lancaster gave her a 12-month community rehabilitation order to try to put a stop to her offending.