WE cannot imagine the demons which have driven Karen Bulmer to a point of such self-degradation.

She has fallen as low as you can get. A shuffling street drinker with a string of convictions over eight lost years, Ms Bulmer is now notorious as the woman who exposes herself in public.

She strips away any last shreds of human dignity along with her clothes.

It is a desperate and pitiful act.

For those she has targeted, this is a deeply unpleasant experience. Police, council workers, shopkeepers and members of the general public have all been subjected to this disturbing spectacle.

We all feel sorry for Ms Bulmer. It does not take a psychology degree to realise that her behaviour is a classic cry for help.

Yet help has been offered and spurned.

Now she is in custody, already alleged to have breached Britain's first criminal anti-social behaviour order (CRASBO) which includes a ban on stripping in public.

It is a shame it must come to this. But nothing else has worked.

Binge drinking is recognised as one of Britain's biggest problems. Eventually the courts have to get tough, and in Ms Bulmer's case, that time has arrived.

This CRASBO is as much for her own good as for the protection of the public.

We sincerely hope it makes Ms Bulmer face what her life has become, and jolts her into accepting help for her problems.

Updated: 11:16 Monday, December 20, 2004