A sex worker has been jailed after she failed to take advantage of a suspended sentence after she preyed on a vulnerable pensioner.

Laura McCord robbed the pensioner when she pushed him onto his bed and pinned him down before stealing his wallet.

The 32-year-old stole his car and wallet when she managed to blag her way into his home before using the Citroen Berlingo to steal fuel from service stations.

Teesside Crown Court heard how just a matter of weeks later the defendant targeted the vulnerable pensioner again when she stole his mobile phone and cash after luring him to a house in Stockton.

The judge heard how the victim had regularly willingly paid McCord for her services but that changed in January when she turned up at the hotel where he was staying and demanded entry.

In October last year, Judge Anthony James Brown sentenced McCord to 22 months in custody suspended for two years after accepting she was ‘under the control of her partner’ at the time of the offences.

“It seems to me that you were working as a sex worker to fund your significant drug habit.

“Reading through your history, is makes very depressing reading,” he said.

The defendant was ordered to attend 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and carry out 100 hours of unpaid work after she pleaded guilty to robbery, fraud, theft of car, and making off without paying for fuel on two occasions.

However, McCord was back in court after she failed to engage with the conditions of her suspended sentence order in January when she didn’t turn up for appointments with the Probation Service.

The Northern Echo: Laura McCordLaura McCord (Image: Cleveland Police)

McCord, formerly of Egglestone Terrace, Stockton, pleaded guilty to breaching her suspended sentence on two occasions last month.

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Nicci Horton, mitigating, said her client had been doing well to start with but she had fallen out with her mother which had resulted in her missing the appointments.

Judge Chris Smith told the defendant that he had little choice but to activate her suspended sentence with immediate effect.

“This is a sorry state of affairs,” he said. “You have to learn some responsibility for not damaging the relationship with your mother to help maintain your success.

“Once you did that the wheels came off.”