Sisters who stole friend's phone and bag jailed

Two sisters who stole a friend's mobile phone and bag while they were guests in her home have been jailed.

Donna and Kelly Stokes, 48 and 47, pushed the victim on to a sofa before fleeing with her possessions from a house in Hartlepool in September 2024, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Kelly Stokes later attacked another woman in the victim's home leaving her with broken ribs.

The sisters from Hartlepool both admitted burglary, with Kelly Stokes also pleading guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm. She was jailed for four years and Donna Stokes for two years six months.

The sisters were at a friend's house in Hartlepool when they stole from her in the early hours of 6 September 2024, the court heard.

Both pushed the woman on to the sofa with Kelly also hitting her in the face, prosecutors said.

The stolen phone, bag and contents were later found hidden in a sofa at one of the sisters' homes, the court heard.

In a statement, the victim said the burglary affected her mental health and left her "feeling scared, shaken and frightened for her safety".

In January 2025, Kelly repeatedly attacked a woman at the victim's home leaving her with broken ribs, the court heard.

The woman said the pain was "unbearable" and she was looking to move away as a result of the attack, the court heard.

Donna Stokes had 85 offences on her criminal record and her sister 13, the court heard.

In mitigation, both said they had long-standing drug addiction issues and had had a traumatic life.

Judge Amanda Rippon said she would take their mitigation into account but previous courts would have done the same for their earlier offences.

In relation to Donna Stokes, the judge said the defendant had to "start saying 'I can't be defined by what happened to me in the past and I have to stop offending'".

The judge said the sisters carried out offences against "very vulnerable women", yet vulnerability as women was something the sisters were relying on in mitigation.

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