A BROMSGROVE woman who admitted handling stolen goods after her boyfriend stole a tray of engagement rings from a jewellers breached her suspended sentence by going shoplifting, a court heard.

Emma Wilson, 27, was given a six-month suspended sentence at Worcester Crown Court last November. Her boyfriend, Craig Ivers, was given 10 months for theft after the court was told he took Wilson to buy her an engagement ring from W. G. Margetson's in Evesham, in June last year.

She had her finger measured then waited in the car while Ivers bought the ring, but instead he ran out with the whole tray and ordered her to drive off. They were arrested later in the day but the rings were not recovered.

Wilson, a drug addict of Goodwood Road, Catshill, Bromsgrove, had 14 previous convictions but was given a chance to get clean with the suspended sentence and a rehabilitation order.

Michael Conry, prosecuting, said that at lunchtime, on February 6, Wilson was stopped by security staff at Aldi in Northfield, Birmingham, on a second visit to the store as she left with an empty basket.

Her car was searched and various stolen grocery items worth £45 were discovered.

Julia Powell, defending, said Wilson had a good job when she had last appeared in court and her employers were aware of her court appearance. But they later dismissed her because of the publicity following the case.

"She reverted to type", Miss Powell said.

"She was not entitled to any benefits after she got the sack and she relapsed into drugs."

She had gone stealing to get the money to buy drugs when she was caught, Miss Powell said.

Judge Robert Juckes, QC, said he had no choice but to implement the suspended sentence because Wilson had breached it and had not complied with the terms of the drug rehabilitation order.

He also gave her two months to run concurrently after she pleaded guilty to the shoplifting charge.

The judge said she would spend three months in prison and the rest on licence and he hoped she would then get help to tackle her drug use.

"If you seek help when you complete this sentence you will find it, both for employment and to break the drug habit," he told her.

"In the end, no-one else can do it for you, you can only do it for yourself."