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A mum caught stealing toys from Home Bargains said she just wanted to get her son a present for his birthday.

Laura Waterhouse is £30,000 in debt and lives in a damp and mouldy council house.

The mum-of-three was on her way to Huddersfield Methodist Mission to get help when she decided to steal from the discount store so that her young child could have something to open on his birthday.

The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to theft when she appeared at Kirklees Magistrates' Court .

Robert Yates, prosecuting, said that on January 17 Waterhouse entered the New Street store at 3.30pm.

He told magistrates that she picked up a basket and placed a number of items inside it.

She also selected some other goods, including toys, which she put straight into a bag. Then she went to a checkout and only paid for the items in the basket.

Waterhouse, of Stockerhead Lane in Slaithwaite , was stopped by staff as she attempted to leave the store and police were called.

She had not been in trouble for 10 years and said that she took the toys, worth £50, for her son's birthday.

Erica Topham, mitigating, explained that her client has three children all aged under seven and receives no maintenance whatsoever from their two fathers.

She said: “She lives in a very damp and mouldy house which she is constantly trying to get the landlord to do something about.

“The windows don't open, she's been to the council and has got nowhere at all.

“She's £30,000 in debt and has tried desperately hard to get some money for the children.

“It had just been Christmas and she'd bought some very meagre presents for them.

“It was the five-year-old's birthday, she was on her way that day to get help from the Mission and popped into Home Bargains.

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“She saw these few toys which she thought would make her boy's day and put them in her bag. The child went without a birthday present on that occasion.

“She's living on the breadline and was trying to do something which was totally wrong and the result is she's come before the courts.”

Magistrates gave Waterhouse a 12 month conditional discharge, meaning that she will not be punished if she stays out of trouble during this period.

She will still have to pay £20 victim surcharge.