A WOMAN who had a drug habit costing up to £200 a day tried to rob a shopper and was caught on CCTV.

The victim, a 63-year-old woman, suffered a broken wrist when she tried to resist during the attack in Stansfeld Street, Blackburn, Preston Crown Court heard.

CCTV footage captured Louise Mulcahy trying to pull a bag of groceries from the woman's grasp.

The victim was in a plaster cast for several weeks and then had to wear a support for two-and-a-half months.

Four months after the attack she still had aches and pains and experienced difficulty trying to carry out everyday tasks.

Mulcahy,31, who lived at Moseley Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery.

She was given a community order involving two years supervision and drug rehabilitation. The attempted robbery took place in May last year.

The victim had been shopping at a supermarket in Bank Top and left with a carrier bag of groceries.

Roger Green, prosecuting, said she was walking towards Stansfeld Street when Mulcahy and a man walked towards her.

As the woman passed between the two of them, the defendant seized her bag and tried to pull it away from her.

Mr Green said "She resisted. She was spun round 180 degrees, lost her balance and fell over backwards.

"In order to break her fall she put her left arm out and this led to a fracture."

John Woodward, defending, said Mulcahy had been living a "wasteful and nomadic" lifestyle in the past.

However, her life had changed considerably when she recently gave birth to a baby daughter, Mr Woodward said.