A PAIR of Netherton women with 68 shoplifting convictions are paying a high price for a calculated crime spree.

Junkies Daniela Brookes and Chloe Bird were jailed for 16 months each after Wolverhampton Crown Court was told they teamed up to target shops in Dudley.

Simon Hunka, prosecuting, said the pair took tins of salmon and corned beef worth £65 from the B&M Store in Dudley and £93 worth of meat from Sainsbury's Local in Lower Gornal.

They also stole £65 worth of foodstuffs from a Spar store in Wordsley before taking £43 worth of cosmetics from the Wilkinsons store in Dudley.

Judge John Warner told the women: "These were planned, calculated and deliberate thefts from shops, you acted as a team to steal as much as you could carry."

He said the pair had a long list of previous convictions for stealing from stores and they had failed to respond in the past to the non-custodial sentences passed by courts.

Brookes, aged 40, of Cole Street, admitted four theft charges. Bird, aged 28, of the same address admitted two charges but asked for two other offences to be taken into consideration.

Mr Hunka said pregnant Brookes, who is expecting a child in August, had 52 previous convictions on her criminal record while Bird had 16 convictions.

Colin McCarraher, for the pair, maintained his clients were now both making "great strides" in their bid to resolve their heroin addictions.