Selby heroin user stole from neighbours (From York Press)

Selby heroin user stole from neighbours

9:14am Thursday 25th October 2012 in News By Dan Bean, dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

A HEROIN user repaid her neighbours’ friendship by stealing hundreds of pounds of jewellery and money from them, a court has heard.

Joanne Wilkinson, 31, pleaded guilty to four charges of burglary and theft from two properties in South View, South Duffield, on several occasions between June 1 and September 20 this year.

Sandra White, prosecuting at Selby Magistrates’ Court, said Wilkinson took cash, gold eternity rings, bracelets, necklaces, watches and cigarettes.

A statement from one of the victims, who was not named in court, was read out, and stated: “What hurts the most was that she had the cheek to smile and talk to me as she stole from me.

“I offered friendship to Joanne Wilkinson and her partner. She repaid us by entering our home uninvited and stealing jewellery and money.”

The court heard Wilkinson left the South View address after the offences, and when the owner of her property went to tidy up, he discovered a burnt ring box in the fire grate. On closer inspection, he found three of the rings in the box, which were identified by the neighbours and returned to their rightful owners.

Keith Haggarty, for Wilkinson, said she had developed a heroin habit while working as a hairdresser, and had continued to use the drug after losing her job. He said she now relied on benefits to help raise her one-year-old child.

He said: “In her state of mind, depression, lack of finances, and need for heroin, she succumbed and took the items on four occasions.”

Wilkinson, now of Boothferry Road, Goole, was released on bail to be sentenced by magistrates next month, following reports by the probation service.