A troubled woman is back together with the partner whose home she burgled.
Heather Anne Gill, 36, enlisted the help of two men to kick their way into her ex’s home and haul away a 50-inch £700 TV.
Yet the victim showed sympathy towards her after she committed the crime in the grip of drug addiction and life-threatening illness.
And he has allowed her to live with her again at the same home, the court was told today.
Gill and the man separated after a one-year relationship while living together on Earsdon Close, Norton.
He asked her to move out but she did not, and he let her stay longer when she became ill, prosecutor Emma Atkinson told Teesside Crown Court.
She repeatedly threatened to steal his belongings as he asked her to find somewhere else to live.
Gill, who did not have a key to the home, admitted she and two male associates broke in on the morning of September 4.
The householder returned to find two televisions worth £1,000 had been stolen.
He later said he was disappointed in Gill as he had tried to help her.
He said in a victim personal statement read out in court: “I feel very sorry for Heather Gill.
“She’s been very ill and she’s had problems with drugs.
“I hope that whatever punishment she receives helps her with her drug addiction.
“I’m sure the offence was motivated by her needing money for drugs, and if she gets help with this she will stop committing offences.”
Gill, later of Sandport Walk, Portrack, Stockton, admitted the burglary. She said she used its proceeds to buy cocaine and was tearful and remorseful in police interview.
Julian Gaskin, defending, said: “She tells me they’re together. They’re living together.
“She tells me she’s been living back at the property where the burglary took place.
“She does seem to be a very vulnerable individual who has behaved in a shameful manner.
“She is completely, utterly ashamed of what she’s done.
“It’s quite clear this is an individual that needs some help.
“She clearly wasn’t thinking straight.”
Judge Howard Crowson told Gill: “You’re a pretty rare visitor to these courts.
“I hardly ever do anything but lock up house burglars because house burglaries usually result in great misery to householders who lose very valuable property.
“They never get all of their losses back and they feel as if they are unsafe in their homes. Immediate prison is what happens.”
He said this case was unusual as Gill burgled the home where she had lived and the victim immediately knew she was responsible.
He said she acted partly in anger at a time of crisis, and was still being treated for her life-threatening illness which was not specified in court.
“All of these features persuade me to take what is, for me, an extremely unusual course,” he added.
He gave her an 18-month community order with supervision and ordered her to pay £100 compensation.
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