A SERIAL shoplifter has been sent to jail for eight months after pleading guilty to stealing from an elderly woman in Southampton.

Kelly Loader who has been convicted for 134 offences since 1995 was told she had “an appalling record” by Judge Peter Henry at Winchester Crown Court.

The court heard that Loader, 33, admitted stealing £240 in cash from a mother of five children and £25 from a 78-year-old woman at the Lordshill Sainsbury’s.

A month earlier she had taken £70 from a woman’s handbag at the supermarket while the victim’s back was turned.

Loader, from Wimpson Lane, Maybush, also admitted to taking meat from the Sainsbury’s in Redcar Street, Shirley.

Loader’s career in crime began when she was 16 and she has been convicted for 38 fraud offences and 69 theft offences among others since then.

Defending Loader, Sarah Jones, said that if she was sent to jail she would be separated from her teenage children, become depressed and go back on drugs.

“If she can get clear of drugs then that will cease to be a concern for Kelly,” Mrs Jones said.

The court heard that the crimes were committed to help feed her drug habit but despite being on various drug treatment programmes she was still offending.

Judge Henry sentenced her to eight months in jail.