A MOTHER of three who stole a pensioner's handbag after sneaking into her home then went on a spending spree, a court heard.

Former drug addict Theresa O'Neil, 38, had got the victim's PIN number as well as her credit card. She then started a £1,000 trail of dishonesty in super-markets in a bid to pay off debts.

O'Neil, of no fixed address and currently serving a jail term of five- and-a-half years for similar escapades, was given another four years in prison, to be served at the same time.

She admitted burglary at Saunders Close, Rawtenstall, and 11 offences of theft when she appeared at Burnley Crown Court.

Sentencing, Judge Babara Watson told the defendant her record, dating back to 1980, made tragic reading.

The judge said O'Neil had committed similar offences against a background of personal difficulties and a poor upbringing.

Judge Watson went on: "As we all know a poor upbringing can carry life-long consequences for some people."

Francis McEntee, prosecuting, told the court the burglary victim was in her garden and only noticed her handbag was missing the following morning.

The defendant first used her credit card about 2.10pm and then got cash and goods at supermarkets, including Tesco, Haslingden, and Rawtenstall Asda.

O'Neil was traced by CCTV. When confronted by video evidence she accepted she had been in the stores but denied any burglary.

She claimed she had been asked to used the card by a "smack-head".

Alan Wilson, defending, said O'Neil had been unable to resist the opportunity when she saw the woman's door left slightly open.

The defendant was due to be released from her five- and-a-half-year sentence in December 2008.

O'Neil, whose youngest child was 13 months old, had a mother who behaved in a similar fashion and her father was an alcoholic. She was the eldest of seven children, all of whom ended up in care.

The defendant had also made poor choices in partners and the father of her oldest child had got her into drugs, he added.

Mr Wilson told the court the defendant regretted that having conquered her drug habit and made progress she offended again to clear her debts.