Scent to jail: Woman who stole 25 bottles of perfume from a Sunderland store

Marie Chambers put the luxury scents, worth £1,360, in her bag during a trip to Debenhams in Sunderland on April 8.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the serial shoplifter was already banned from Newcastle city shops so had travelled to Sunderland to carry out the stealing spree.

The 36-year-old heroin addict, of Edendale Terrace, Gateshead, who was on two suspended sentences, admitted theft.

Judge Stephen Earl sentenced Chambers to nine months behind bars.

The judge told her: "I have every sympathy for the fact drugs is a menace in our society and you are caught up in that menace.

"It was inevitable a custodial sentence was going to be imposed today, you were on two suspended sentences and two community orders."