A woman who turned to drugs after an arson attack on her home has admitted stealing to fund her habit.

Amanda McLaughlin, 36, pleaded guilty to shoplifting when she appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

The offence took place on Christmas Eve at the Cleckheaton branch of Tesco.

McLaughlin took the security tags off some joints of meat and then tried to leave the store without paying for them.

She was stopped outside but the meat was no longer fit to be sold because of the way she had handled it.

McLaughlin, of Turnsteads Mount in Cleckheaton, tested positive for the use of cocaine and opiates in her system following her arrest.

Magistrates heard that she spends £20 daily on heroin and crack cocaine.

She had been clean from drugs for five years but then relapsed and became very enclosed as a result of an arson attack st her home.

They sentenced her to a community order as a direct alternative to custody.

The order includes 20 days of rehabilitative activities and six months of drug rehabilitation.

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