Young mum jailed

3:45pm Tuesday 20th May 2008

A YOUNG mum who burst into a flat in a violent drunken burglary has been jailed after failing on two community sentences.

Laura Dommett, of Pitman Avenue, Trowbridge, was in a gang who stormed into the flat following a row with the occupant.

The 22-year-old was put on a suspended sentence and told to do 150 hours of community service when she appeared at court in September last year.

But in March the conditions of the suspended sentence were varied with the unpaid work being replaced with a drug treatment and testing order.

However within weeks of the new order being imposed she failed to turn up at two appointments and was sent back to court for the jail term to be activated.

Susan Clark, prosecuting, told Swindon crown court the 42 week sentence suspended for two years had been imposed in September.

In December she twice failed to turn up for community service and was found to be unsuitable to continue as she had a heroin and crack addiction.

Rather than ask for the jail term to be activated the probation service accepted her on a drug rehabilitation requirement.

But she failed to turn up for a review hearing before a judge in April as well as an appointment with the probation service.

The court was told that she had also missed a number of other appointments on the drug rehabilitation requirement.

Miss Clark said: "The probation service feel they have no other option than for the suspended sentence order to be activated."

Dommett admitted being in breach of the suspended sentence order.

Alex Daymond, defending, said in October 2006 his client's partner and the father of her children died from a drug overdose.

She was not a drug user but started to drink heavily when the offence took place, he said, turning to drugs soon after being sentenced.

He said she struggled with the order because it meant being with other users who taught her more about drugs rather then helping get her off them.

Activating the whole 42 weeks, Judge Charles Wade said: "You were fortunate indeed to receive a suspended sentence in respect of this dwelling house burglary."

In February John Baker, 24, of Westfield Way, Trowbridge, was told to serve 35 weeks in custody after breaching a suspended sentence for his part in the burglary.

And a warrant has been issued for the arrested of Michelle Issacs, who was convicted of handling goods in the same incident, after she failed to turn up at court on May 13.

Issacs, 24, of Berryfields, Melksham, was put on a one year probation order but is said to be in breach of it.

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