AN Oldham mum of four has been jailed for a spate of burglary offences in Chadderton.

Anne-Marie Thornton, 43, of Ashford Walk, Chadderton was sentenced for two burglaries and four attempted burglaries over a four-month period at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday.

Thornton committed four of the six offences while on bail.

The offences saw Thornton trying people’s door handles in a bid to enter people’s homes from November last year to March of this year.

On two occasions Thornton gained entry and took low-value items from porches.

In mitigation, defence barrister Alison Heyworth said Thornton had a previous partner who was on class A drugs and violent towards her and her son.

Her son, 22, retaliated and is now serving four years in prison for assault against him.

The barrister said that Thornton’s ‘fall from grace’ following the incident was nothing short of ‘catastrophic’.

She became addicted to class A drugs herself and began committing crimes to fund her drug habit.

Ms Heyworth added that Thornton has ‘no relevant previous convictions’, did not have a long history of drug abuse, and had ‘expressed remorse’ for the offences which were ‘born out of desperation’.

She added that Thornton, who she described as being ‘plagued by vulnerabilities’, now has a supportive partner who is not a drug addict, and that Thornton is engaging with drug abuse services.

Judge Mark Savill acknowledged that Thornton had had an ‘unpleasant earlier life’ before experiencing an ‘abusive relationship’.

He also recognised that Thornton had faced difficulties managing her children and her own physical and mental health before ‘the dam broke’ and she started to commit offences.

The judge went on to say that the victim’s statements ranged, with some victims describing being ‘annoyed’ and others ‘very upset and disturbed’ that someone had been in their home.

Addressing Thornton, he said: “On January 13, at 11.45pm one victim said they were at home watching TV when the patio door slid open and there you were”.

He added that another house that Thornton targeted was home to a disabled child who was there at the time of the offence.

Judge Savill said that none of the offences were sophisticated, that Thornton had ‘strong personal mitigation’ due to difficulties in her family life, and she posed a medium risk to the public.

Thornton was given a sentence of 15 months imprisonment.