A DRUG addict who carried out two distraction burglaries has been jailed for three years at Oxford Crown Court.

Rachel Mason, of Barns Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of theft and was sentenced yesterday.

Prosecutor Kathy Hirst said the 29-year-old first stole a drill that had been left by a builder doing work on her home on October 14 last year. She said the power tool was recovered by police from a nearby Cash Converters where Mason had exchanged it for £30.

Miss Hirst said Mason next struck the home of Dennis and Brenda Nuttall, who are in their 70s, in Beauchamp Place, Oxford, on April 28 this year.

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The barrister said Mason tricked Mr Nuttall into letting her in and then stole an iPad and ran out of the house.

Then, while on bail for that offence, she carried out another distraction burglary in which she stole £150 cash from a property in Moorbank, Oxford, on October 15, Miss Hirst added.

Timothy Boswell, defending, said his client – despite having two previous convictions for domestic burglaries – had stayed out of trouble for about 10 years.

He said: “Drugs are the nub of Miss Mason’s problems. They are the major problem she has in her life.”

Recorder Nicholas Goodwin said he saw no reason not to impose a mandatory minimum three-year sentence required for three domestic burglaries.

Mason will also have to pay a £120 victims’ surcharge when she is released.

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