M&S Leeds lingerie thief jailed after going on the run
She feared going to prison, so evaded the authorities for nine months
A woman who stole lingerie from M&S has been jailed after going on the run for nine months.
Rebecca Revans was already on a suspended sentence, so opted not to turn herself in for fear of going to prison.
She appeared at Leeds Crown Court this week from HMP New Hall where she was being held on remand.
The 37-year-old admitted theft from shop, failing to attend the drug test and failing to attend court.
She had walked into the M&S on Briggate on November 23 last year, picked up underwear items and hid them on herself, before leaving the shop.
She was stopped outside and arrested. She tested positive for cocaine.
However, after being released, she later failed to attend another drug test, and failed to attend court.
Prosecutor Hollie Alcock said Revans was “at large” for nine months.
The court heard she has 10 previous convictions for 19 offences, including eight for theft and three for court breaches.
Revans, of Cranmer Bank, Moortown, was already on the 15-month sentence that had been suspended for 18 months for a dwelling burglary. That was imposed in June last year.
Mitigating, Michael Greenhalgh said: “She made a stupid mistake with the shop theft offence in M&S.
“Faced with the inevitable consequence of custody, she decided to lie low, in effect.”
He said she had managed to detox from heroin while in prison and was making progress.
But Judge Simon Batiste said there was no evidence that she was tackling her drug problem.
He said her compliance with her suspended sentence had been poor, having failed to attend probation appointments.
He told her: “There has been little progress made. I have no alternative but to activate the prison sentence.”
He activated 14 months of the sentence and told her: “I’m afraid you have reached the end of the line.”