A FORMER woman soldier responsible for a crime spree against shops across York has been jailed for three months.

Louise Michelle Ellerby, 20, committed 11 offences as she stole from stores in Acomb, Monks Cross, South Bank, Dringhouses and the city centre between May and December, Helen Dawson, prosecuting, told York magistrates.

The court heard that justices tried to curb her law-breaking with a probation order and by deferring sentence on condition that she go straight.

Finally they decided enough was enough and locked her up for three months. Jobless heroin addict Ellerby, of Ordnance Lane, Fulford, cried as Group 4 officers took her away to prison.

She pleaded guilty to stealing stationery worth £45.21 from Clinton Cards, York, on December 13, underwear worth £11.98 for her own use from TK Maxx, Monks Cross, on December 4, bacon worth £4.85 from Jacksons, Blossom Street, York, on September 8, cosmetics worth £48.85 from Superdrug, York, on September 4, nine packs of bacon from Nicholls Newsagents, Wains Road, Dringhouses, on July 22, receiving a bank card on May 5 within hours of it being stolen and using it deceitfully the same afternoon to obtain items worth £48.40 from Jackson's in Bishopthorpe Road, £29.85 from Costcutters and £42.05 from the Spar Shop, Acomb Road: and two failures to attend court.

For Ellerby, Phil Brown said she had gone into care for reasons that left her without family support when she was 12. She had done well in the Army, but then had been discharged for under-age drinking.

Jobless on her return to York, she had formed a relationship with a heroin addict who had pushed her into addiction, and though she had since broken up with him, she had suffered at the hands of another boyfriend and seen her home turned into a heroin den. She had taken steps to curb her addiction.

Miss Dawson said that Costcutters staff took the card from Ellerby because they recognised her, although the transaction was authorised by the card's bank. Staff at Jacksons in Blossom Street chased her as far as Holgate Road and grabbed her handbag, but she got away.

Updated: 10:53 Tuesday, December 24, 2002