A TRAUMATISED teenager who mugged a neighbour with her friend has been sent to prison for 12 months.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Leona Dixon, 19, saw her mother throw herself under a train when she was five-years-old.

Sending her to detention, a judge said her 69-year-old victim had also been subjected to a traumatic experience.

Judge Raymond Bennett said he would be failing in his duty if he did not send Dixon to custody -- and the message must go out that immediate custodial sentences would follow for street robberies.

Dixon, of May Street, Burnley, had earlier admitted robbery, when she and co-defendant Caroline Coupe snatched the victim's bag, leaving her with a bruised head.

Kenneth Hind, defending, said Dixon took the police to where the victim's handbag had been abandoned so they were able to recover it and most of its contents.

She had pleaded guilty and deeply regretted being involved in the offence.

Dixon was arrested on warrant, had been in custody for six weeks and that had not been an easy time. Her co-defendant, who was already serving her 12 month sentence, had been telling everybody at Styal Prison that she had not done anything and the offence was all down to Dixon.

She had been beaten twice, had had to dry out as far as drugs were concerned -- she had been taking heroin to the tune of £10-£20 each day -- and was not drug-free.

Dixon had had four epileptic fits because of the stress and withdrawal from drugs.

Mr Hind said the defendant's father was very upset by what she had done -- the victim was very well known in the area -- and she felt she had let him down.

When Dixon was five-years-old, her mother had left home on Christmas Eve and she had seen her throw herself under a train.

She was in need of bereavement counselling, as she had really never come to terms with that.

Dixon had also recently lost both her grandmothers who brought her up, but had the support of her boyfriend who wanted to help her.

Mr Hind added the defendant had heard the cell door clang behind her and the deterrent effect of being in custody was very strong.

That would help her to come to terms with her problems and stay out of trouble.

With the help of her boyfriend, father and probation service, she would not appear before the court again.