A DOWNTON woman has been jailed for 13 months after admitting a string of shoplifting offences and failing to comply with previous orders imposed by the court.

Jennifer Rose Todd, of Wick Lane, Downton, appeared at Salisbury Crown Court on Friday charged with six counts of theft and two counts of making off without payment.

The shoplifting offences involved the theft of grocery items from the Co-op in Downton and alcohol from Waitrose in Salisbury.

The making off without payment was in relation to not paying for taxi fares of £41 and £28 on April 2 and 25 last year.

The court heard these offences were also a breach of a previously-imposed court order.

Todd was previously sentenced to 14 months in prison suspended for 18 months for possession with intent to supply "very small amounts" of heroin and crack cocaine to an undercover officer in Salisbury, the court heard.

She was also given rehabilitation requirements to comply with which were varied following breaches to the order.

In July 2018, she was given a community order for failing to notify of changes to her benefits entitlement.

Since then Todd had appeared before the court for the offences of making off without payment and six offences of theft from shops between April and June.

Prosecuting, Tim Hills, said that the 29-year-old had already been before the court on 11 occasions for 20 different offences.

Andrew Stone, appearing on behalf of the probation service, said Todd's compliance history was "not encouraging" and that 24 probation appointments had been offered with only three attended.

He said there was "no alternative" but to activate the suspended sentence.

Robert Grey, defending Todd, said in relation to the breaches the defendant had suffered from ill health and that she had left messages with the probation service about the appointments but heard nothing back.

He said Todd cared for her mother and was a recovering addict and had not taken class A drugs for seven months.

Mr Grey said she accepts responsibility for her actions in failing to comply with requirements. He said the reasons for this were a combination of leading a "disorganised" life which was "exacerbated by lack of money" and difficulties getting benefits.

He said the defendant had already been in custody since the beginning of the year.

Judge Richard Parkes QC said Todd had a "history of poor compliance" in relation to court orders and requirements and that there was "no alternative" but to activate the suspended sentence.

He said Todd had been "given a chance" by the court, adding: "You failed to comply with the community elements of that sentence.

"I see nothing unjust in activating your suspended sentence nothing approaches injustice accept the obligation to your mother which you should have thought about before."

Todd was also ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the hearing, PC Jack Billington, neighbourhood PC for Salisbury city centre, said: "We are currently running Operation Vendor in Salisbury, which is proactive work by our Community Policing Team to target our prolific offenders, including shoplifters, who make life miserable for local businesses in the city centre.

"We welcome this sentence, as Todd's offending has been going on for some time and our previous measures, including a Community Order, have not been successful."