Sleeping pill addict stole from daughter

Rachel Broadhead stole cash, alcohol, a suitcase, a satellite navigation system and perfume from her daughter Aimee’s room while she was away for the weekend

Broadhead, 41, also took the keys to her daughter’s Peugeot 206 and drove it without permission before abandoning it as the battery was flat.

The theft happened at the pair’s home in Waterstone Court, Dewsbury, on April 14.

Broadhead then took the stolen items to a pawnbrokers where she sold them for £30.

Huddersfield Magistrates Court heard last Friday that she had struggled with a 20-year addiction to sleeping tablets.

Broadhead admitted charges of theft, taking a vehicle without consent and driving without insurance.

Robert Dawson, mitigating, said his client was a former heroin addict. He said that Broadhead stopped taking street drugs following the death of her brother but became addicted to sleeping pills as she battled depression.

She stole from her daughter to pay for more sleeping tablets and pay off a debt to someone who was supplying them.

Mr Dawson said: “She’s ashamed about what she’s done involving her daughter.”

He added that Broadhead had moved away from her home in Dewsbury Moor to Gateshead to stay out of trouble.

Magistrates gave Broadhead a conditional discharge, ordered her to pay £45 compensation to her daughter as well as £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Eight points were added to driving licence.