A Blackpool lottery winner went shoplifting because she had reached financial rock bottom a court was told.



Nicola Lord, who won £250,000 on a lottery scratchcard, had gone into a store to buy a tin of beans with her last 90p but temptation got the better of her.

She pocketed three watches and two nail polish kits valued at £26.96p in order to sell them.

Lord, aged 39, of Lytham Road, South Shore, pleaded guilty to theft.

She was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay £26.95 compensation by Blackpool magistrates.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said on November 26 about 5pm staff at Home Bargains, Tyldesley Road, Blackpool, were alerted by a customer that Lord had stolen items.

She was stopped at the door but refused to let staff look in her bag and walked off. Police later identified her from CCTV footage and arrested her.

Lord was described as having an appalling record with 196 previous offences -145 of them for theft.

When interviewed she told police she had no money for food or electric and went into the shop to buy beans with her last 90p but then stolen the items.

Brett Chappell, defending, said Lord's life had been destroyed by an addiction to heroin which started when she was a teenager and that addiction had been the catalyst for all her previous offending.

She had conquered that addiction and was off street heroin for the first time in years, but had unfortunately now become addicted to alcohol.

Just before committing the offence her boyfriend had been arrested and he had their bank card in his possession.

Mr Chappell added: "She had hit complete and absolutely financial rock bottom. She had no money for food or electric or to fund her addiction to alcohol, so she stole the items to sell."