'No punishment would have stopped me shoplifting'

A former offender has said no punishment would have stopped her shoplifting while she was addicted to drugs.

Jade Smith, 35, from Skelton in Cleveland, said she spent all of her money on cocaine and then stole food and household essentials because she had "nothing to live on" until she got paid again.

After convictions, homelessness and a period living in a tent, she is now five to six weeks clean at a rehabilitation facility in Preston and trying to rebuild relationships with her children and family.

Smith said: "I do now think about the shop workers and how they felt. I'd like to apologise. I wish I'd thought at the time how other people would be feeling and not just myself. It was quite selfish really."

Smith said drug use overtook her life and was the driving force behind her offending.

She said she began taking drugs as a teenager and believed the older people she mixed with at the time influenced the path her life took.

Although she sometimes used shoplifting to support her addiction, Smith said she often stole everyday essentials after spending her money on cocaine.

"I'd spend all my money on my drugs and then I'd have nothing to live on until I got paid next," she said.

Smith said the fear of being caught was never enough to break the cycle she found herself trapped in.

"When you've got no choice and you think, 'How am I going to live for the month?', you don't really think at the time. You're just thinking of what you need to do."

Asked whether she would have carried on offending despite tougher penalties, she said: "Probably, yeah, because it's just what you've got to do at the time to get through in your life."

Smith said she felt "ashamed", "embarrassed" and guilty about her actions and regretted failing to consider the effect they may have had on shop workers.

She said she was convicted of fraud aged 16 after stealing cheques from her father's cheque book and later sentenced to three years in prison following a street robbery in 2019.

Smith said the consequences of her addiction stretched beyond the criminal justice system and affected those closest to her.

After a period of homelessness, including living in a tent, Smith accepted a place at a rehabilitation facility with support from friends and a charity.

She said being separated from her children was what finally made her realise "something needs to change".

"I do want to put things right, prove to them that I can change and change for good this time and I'm not just saying it," she said.

Shoplifting offences in the Cleveland Police area increased by nearly 15% in the last financial year - the biggest percentage increase in the country.

Cleveland Police said it was committed to tackling the issue and will continue to use all of the tools at their disposal.

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