THE shoplifter who claimed she had to steal to survive is planning a new life on the right side of the law, York magistrates heard.

Sabina Hansard plans to leave the York area and start a job earning her keep as a waitress in her sister’s restaurant in Coventry, solicitor Damien Morrison said.

He was speaking after she had spent 38 days in custody charged with stealing a bar of soap and other items from two York city centre shops.

“This is the hardest period of time she has spent in custody, of all the weeks she has done," he said. “This has led her to refocus her efforts to re-contact her sister in Coventry and she is determined to go to her upon release.”

Hansard, 51, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to stealing items worth £3.92 from Superdrug in Market Street and a £2.99 bar of soap from TK Maxx in Coney Street, both on May 10, a day after magistrates gave her a community order for earlier shoplifting.

Magistrates gave her a 21-day prison sentence for her latest crimes. Because she had spent longer in prison on remand, she was immediately released.

She has a long list of previous convictions for shoplifting and has served many prison sentences. Colette Dixon said a store detective followed Hansard as she first went to TK Maxx and left without paying, then to Superdrug, where he saw her put items in a carrier bag and leave with paying. She was arrested outside.

She told police she did not have money, but needed items to keep clean.

In March she made a public appeal for help, claiming that she had to steal every time she left prison because she couldn't get benefits.