A PROLIFIC shoplifter banned from every shop in Barrow was told she had an ‘appalling record’ of reoffending after being jailed for the third time.

Nicola Duke, 34, faced magistrates after being arrested by police at B&M Bargains in Barrow’s Cornerhouse Retail Park on April 23.

Duke, of Windrush Crescent, Barrow, appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court yesterday after she was charged with breaking an existing criminal behaviour order banning her from shops and retail parks in the town.

She had only recently been released from prison after being convicted for breaking the order while shoplifting from TK Maxx in March.

Magistrates sentenced her to 16 weeks in prison for breaking the order for the fifth time. She pleaded guilty to the offence. The court was told she her criminal record spanned 17 pages and included 53 convictions and 93 total offences.

Chairman of the bench Chris Harris told Duke: “Your record is appalling.

“There is no doubt in the mind of the bench that you are a persistent breacher.”

Prosecutor Glen Anderton said Duke entered the store at 3pm on the day alongside two others and was later arrested by police.

He said: “She was aware of the order and she knows she was not meant to be there.”

Defending her, Michael Graham said she had been living with her mother after previously being evicted from her previous home for falling behind with rent.

He said Duke had struggled to find council housing because of her rent arrears and wandered around in the town to give her mother space.

The solicitor also said Duke may have bipolar disorder and was awaiting assessment.