A STRUGGLING widow stole groceries and alcohol from a Hampshire supermarket after shelling out £400 on a prom dress for her daughter, a court heard.

Sarah Kepple desperately tried to escape the clutches of Tesco security guards when they caught her fleeing from the store in Bursledon.

Now magistrates say she could face jail after it emerged that she has a long history of shoplifting and theft.

Kepple, 39, of William Macleod Way, Millbrook, stood at Southampton Magistrates Court accused of theft and breaching a suspended sentence – charges which she admitted.

The court heard how Kepple – a widowed mother of four – was stopped by security guards in the Tesco Extra in Hamble Lane after she and a friend set off the security alarms on May 20.

Prosecutor Natalie Angel told the court: “Kepple started to follow security then ran away. As they grabbed her she sank her fingernails in, kicked out at them and lost her balance.”

Kepple produced a receipt showing £30 of shopping itemised, but it was for the wrong date and store security found she was carrying food and alcohol worth £447.57, the court heard.

CCTV footage also showed her and the friend removing security tags from alcohol bottles, it was heard.

When interviewed Kepple admitted she has gone into the shop with the intention of stealing a food as she was “short on cash” after spending her benefits on presents for her son’s birthday and a £400 dress for her daughter’s school prom, it was heard.

The court heard how Kepple has 20 previous convictions for theft and was breaching a suspended sentence for shoplifting made six months previously.

In mitigation, solicitor Nicola Attwood said Kepple had suffered “considerable difficulties” since her husband died four years ago.

Ms Attwood told the court that the majority of the food was for the family and the alcohol was for the mother’s friend who subsequently ran off. She added: “She is in such a hole emotionally and financially and not coping. This was food for her children rather than things for herself.”

Ms Attwood said that Kepple was under “incredible stress” to buy the dress and added: “The pressure that parents might be under is intense, particularly for her.”

Magistrates told Kepple adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report, but Kepple was warned she could face jail and told: “You have been carrying out thefts for a very long time. It makes you a career criminaland does not set a very good example to your kids. This is a real defining moment for you.” Kepple will be sentenced next month.