Mansfield drug addict jailed to tackle habit

Shirley Tomlinson failed to comply with an eight week suspended sentence for shoplifting, imposed in June, by missing appointments on October 24 and November 6.

Probation officer Sarah Alderton said this was the second breach and her “compliance with the court order has continued to be poor.”

Chris Perry, mitigating, said: “She admitted the breach of the order and she knows the peril that puts her in.

“She has been to custody about three years ago. She is more concerned she won’t be able to complete the drug rehabilitation programme.”

He said she began using drugs at the age of 15, and social services took her daughter into care when the child was five.

Her daughter, now 18, had recently tried to get in contact with her, but because Tomlinson was still using drugs, the relationship did not develop.

Mr Perry said that social services were now concerned about her drug taking as she lives with her partner who has two children.

“If it means going to prison and detoxing she will do it in a heartbeat,” he said.

“She is determined to do better and she deeply regrets the loss of the order.”

Tomlinson, 36, of Holmesfield Walk, admitted breaching the order, when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday, and she was jailed for eight weeks.