AFTER spending her cash on drugs, 29-year-old heroin addict Lucy Waters stole booze from local shops, a court was told. The mother-of-two was caught on store CCTV as she stole two cans of strong lager from the One Stop store in St John s Road at Ely. She

AFTER spending her cash on drugs, 29-year-old heroin addict Lucy Waters stole booze from local shops, a court was told.

The mother-of-two was caught on store CCTV as she stole two cans of strong lager from the One Stop store in St John's Road at Ely.

"She told police she struggles to make ends meet because she is addicted to heroin and spends money on drugs. When she has no money she goes out to steal what she needs," Ely magistrates were told by prosecutor Sally Hickling on Thursday.

Waters, 29, of New Barns Avenue, Ely, admitted stealing the lager worth £2.90, and asked the court to take into consideration her theft of lager from Tesco and Waitrose. She also admitted being in breach of an 18-month conditional discharge imposed for possessing heroin, and missing a court hearing on September 26.

Solicitor Jacqui Baldwin said Waters' children no longer lived with her, and she was very low after they moved away. She had signed up with a doctor, and had a prescription for the heroin substitute methadone.

Ordering a pre-sentence report and adjourning sentencing until November 2, presiding magistrate Marisa Johnson said: "We are concerned about the pattern of offending that is emerging.