A 21-YEAR-OLD who suffered a stroke through injecting heroin was yesterday jailed for 15 months for stealing from a 93-year-old woman.

John Fothergill and a friend offered to wash the woman's windows at her Darlington home and she accepted, Teesside Crown Court heard.

When they had finished he demanded £20 each for the job, which the woman paid.

Richard Turton, prosecuting, said Fothergill went into the house on March 21 after asking to use the toilet and stole money from her purses.

The woman, of Hart Crescent, Darlington, noticed that the money was missing after he had gone, Mr Turton said.

Five days later, while police were in the house taking a statement, Fothergill went to the woman's door. She pointed him out to police, and he was arrested.

In an interview, Fothergill, of Wordsworth Road, Darlington, admitted stealing from a purse left in the kitchen. He admitted a charge of theft.

Aisha Wadoodi, for Fothergill, said he had not been on heroin at the time of the offence, but had stolen out of "force of habit". He had suffered a stroke two years earlier through injecting heroin and had problems with his mobility. He also suffered from epilepsy, she said.

Judge Les Spittle said although Fothergill had not intended stealing, while he was at the house he had been "ripping off" the woman by charging her £40 to wash windows.