A WOMAN has been found guilty of stealing from a fellow victim of domestic violence while they lived in a Bromsgrove refuge.

Miriam Majid denied two charges of theft and one of burglary.

A jury at Worcester Crown Court found her guilty of stealing a mobile phone from the other woman but cleared her of taking £40 cash from her handbag.

Majid, now living in Telford, was also found guilty of stealing a phone, MP3 player and credit cards in a burglary on the other woman’s room at the refuge.

Judge Toby Hooper QC adjourned sentencing for reports and allowed Majid bail.

The jury heard that Majid had moved into the two bedroom refuge at an address in Bromsgrove last year.

Ian Ball, prosecuting, told the court that the other woman, who was also escaping domestic violence, moved in some weeks later at the end of July.

Shortly afterwards, the woman found her mobile phone and a purse containing £40 in cash left in the shared areas of the house had gone missing and Majid had been the only other person there.

A few days later, the other woman went into town and, when she returned, realised she had forgotten her key.

She borrowed a ladder and her father climbed up to her bedroom window to discover her room had been ransacked.

An MP3 player and some other items were missing.

Police were called and, when an officer rang the number of the missing mobile phone, it rang in Majid's pocket.

In Majid’s bedroom, police found the MP3 player and other items that had been stolen, Mr Ball said.

Majid said the other woman's boyfriend had visited the house even though there were strict rules on visitors and men were banned.

She said at the time of the burglary she had been visiting a friend in Redditch and that the other woman had given her the mobile phone with a view to her buying it.