A MOTHER has been given a community order after stealing plug socket covers from a shop.

Lisa Hirst, 35, admitted the theft from the B&Q warehouse on Leeds Road on August 4.

Huddersfield magistrates were told that Hirst, of Wilson Gardens in Milnsbridge, had entered the store at 1pm.

A security guard saw her taking a double metal plug socket from the electrical aisle and put it into her carrier bag.

She was then seen selecting further items from the shelves and passing all of the points of sale without paying.

Hirst was stopped outside the store by security staff where she dropped the bag on the ground. There were nine plug socket covers, worth over £100 in the bag.

When quizzed by police she said had gone into the store with her son, who played no part in the theft.

Magistrates were told that she had been before the court in March last year for shoplifting.

For that offence she was given a community order with a curfew requirement.

Her solicitor Charles Ainley said: “She’s a lady with some difficulties.

“She needs punishment but help and support as well.”

Hirst was given a community order with supervision for 12 months and ordered to pay £85 costs.

Magistrates also requested that she participates in the Evolve programme, which works with vulnerable women who have offended.