A WORKINGTON woman who began abusing alcohol after the 2015 Storm Desmond floods has been jailed to give shops respite from her thieving.

The Carlisle Crown Court judge who dealt with 40-year-old Nichola Moore's most recent crime spree  said she had thrown away the repeated opportunities for reform that local courts had offered to her. 

She continued to “flagrantly” breach court orders, said Recorder Michael Blakey.

He was passing sentence on Moore after she admitted seven shop thefts and six breaches of a criminal behaviour order that aimed to ban her key local shops.

Estelle Chambers, prosecuting, outlined the facts.

She set out how the defendant repeatedly went to shops in Workington from which she is banned, at times stealing low-value food but mostly targeting alcohol. The catalogue of offending consisted of:

July 11: She walked into Workington’s Pow Street branch of Marks & Spencer and took two bottles of whisky without paying. The store manager intervened, recovering the stolen alcohol.

August 1: Moore went into the same store and stole three bottles of alcohol, but staff again caught up with the defendant and retrieved the stolen goods.

August 2: The defendant stole two bottles of vodka from Asda in Workington, worth more than £70. The stolen alcohol was not recovered.

August 15: Moore targeted Heron Foods on Murray Road, Workington, with a male accomplice. Though the paid for some food items, they failed to pay for other items worth just over £60.

August 16: The following day, Moore returned to the same shop and stole two cans of soft drink, worth £1.48.

September 4: The defendant returned to M&S in Workington, again stealing two bottles of whisky, making no attempt to pay. The alcohol was recovered by staff.

September 5: When Moore was arrested for the earlier offence, she was found to be carrying two bottles of rum, which she stole from M&S.

Six of the thefts involved breaching the criminal behaviour order that a court had imposed on her during an earlier hearing. Miss Chambers said: “Between 2018 and 2024, she has 47 previous theft offences on her record.”

The barrister added that at the time of the latest offences, Moore, of no fixed address, was the subject of a deferred sentence.

“What can the court do with this woman other than send her to prison?” asked Recorder Blakey. “The court has bent over backwards to try to assist her by giving her all sorts of sentences – suspended sentences combined with requirements to assist with her mental health issues and her drinking.

“There have been all sorts of orders.

“But she has refused to take that [help] on board and committed further offences and committed flagrant breaches of court orders.”

Marion Weir, defending, said the latest spate of offending came after Moore, who once worked as an assistant manager in retail, became the victim of a serious assault, which led to her again using alcohol as a coping mechanism.

“She didn’t trouble the court until she was 29,” said Miss Weir.

“In the 2015 serious flooding, she lost all her belongings and that’s when her abusive relationship with alcohol began. It’s continued ever since. She has to accept she’s been offered counselling and opportunities to engage with services.

“She has tried to engage but life has got the better of her. She’s disengaged and dealt with things in a way she should not have done.”

While in prison, however, Moore’s craving for alcohol ceased, added Miss Weir.

Recorder Blakey described Moore's criminal record as "appalling," saying she was unable to, or refused to, be rehabilitated and the purpose of sentencing her was firstly to deliver punishment but also to give some relief to the shops she targeted.

He jailed Moore for seven months. The criminal behaviour order, banning her from every shop in the Workington Shopwatch Scheme, will remain in force until further order.