A WOMAN who fuelled her drug habit by pretending to collect cash for a cancer charity has been jailed for 27 months.

Leanne Southall also conned a vulnerable Sedgley widow into giving her £80 by claiming she needed money to pay a locksmith as she could not get into her nearby home.

She then went back to the 85-year-old's home, stole her purse and withdrew £1,000 from her bank account, which was also spent on class A drugs.

Judge Nicholas Webb told the 29-year-old: "You preyed on gullible and sometimes elderly people and you were getting money out of them."

He said a number of her victims had been shocked by her actions and their confidence had been shattered.

"You breached their trust and left them in a state of emotional distress," he added.

The offending, he stressed at Wolverhampton Crown Court, also had a marked effect on the charities who put their trust in people to work honestly on their behalf.

Simon Hunka, prosecuting, said Southall knocked on doors claiming to have arranged a run and three charity walks to raise money for Cancer Research and Macmillan Cancer Support.

The mother-of-one was paid £1,137 by 176 generous people with one man handing over £10 because he had lost his wife to cancer while another vulnerable man paid her £5 because both his parents had died from the disease.

When police officers searched Southall's home in Clifton Street, Hurst Hill, they also recovered a number of sponsorship forms.

Neither of the charities received a penny from her activities, said Mr Hunka, with one victim later telling police he felt like a fool and was now insecure in his own home.

Rashid Mohammed, defending, said Southall had a £30 a day drug problem and all the money she obtained was spent on her addiction.

She is ashamed and full of remorse for what she has done, he told the court.

"She accepts the money was handed over to help others and she took full advantage of the situation."