A thief has been convicted of possessing a knife in public after failing to show for her trial.
Cherleigh Root, who has amassed 56 offences on her criminal record, including 30 for theft, was homeless when she was found carrying a lock knife on a street in Blyth more than two years ago. The 35-year-old initially appeared in the dock at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court to plead not guilty to possessing a bladed article in public and her case was set down for trial earlier this month.
However, she was convicted in absence after she failed to show and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Root then appeared in custody at Newcastle Magistrates' Court to learn her fate and plead guilty to a bail act offence and a separate charge of shoplifting, which saw her steal £56-worth of coffee, meat and alcohol from a Nisa store.
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Marc Atkins, prosecuting, said Root was found with the lock knife on Wright Street, in Blyth, on June 19, 2020. He added: "The defendant simply had the knife in her possession - there was no harm involved and she didn't produce it."
In relation to the shoplifting offence on February 2 this year, Mr Atkins said: "The defendant went into a Nisa store on Sandyford Road with another and picked up a basket and placed coffee, meat and a bottle of wine in the basket. The defendant is with a male. He opens the entrance door and they both escape. CCTV is taken by the police and viewed by two officers, who both identify the defendant from the footage."
The court heard that Root, of Denmark Street, in Byker, had been homeless at the time of the knife offence but had now secured her own tenancy and was on a methadone prescription. Paul Dunn, defending, added: "At the time, she was homeless. Someone who lives a lifestyle like that carries their possessions about their person and that included the knife."
Root was given a 12-month community order, with a three-month curfew between 9pm and 7am, and was ordered to pay £250 costs.
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