A YOUNG shopworker's fear that she could not provide for her unborn baby drove her to crime, York magistrates heard.

Supervisor and mother-to-be Emma Jane Stables, 22, dreaded that she would be evicted because she owed the council £600 in rent arrears.

Then she learned she was pregnant and did not know how to meet the extra expenses, said her solicitor, John Howard.

So she pocketed £5 or £10 at a time from the till as she worked at the Co-op Late Shop in York Road, Acomb.

Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, said that when management noticed cash missing from the till they hid a covert camera in the ceiling of the manager's office.

On February 23, they caught Stables on film pocketing money as she cashed up.

She had stolen £400 in four months.

Stables, of Birstwith Drive, Acomb, pleaded guilty to theft. Her baby is due in August.

Magistrates ordered her to do community rehabilitation for six months and ordered her to pay £400 compensation with £120 prosecution costs.

They said she had breached her employer's trust, but probation officers would help her sort out her finances.

Mr Howard said Stables had been relieved when she was caught on camera and confronted by management.

She had no previous convictions. Her thefts had cost her her job and she was having difficulty getting benefits.

Updated: 12:36 Saturday, April 05, 2003