A former porn star twice given a chance by a judge to clean up her act is behind bars after being told her "time has run out".

Roma Lawson sobbed in the dock at Canterbury Crown Court and begged for yet another reprieve as reality dawned on her that she was going to prison.

She pleaded she would "do anything" and needed to be with her young daughter and seriously ill mum.

But the tearful 36-year-old was bluntly told alternative options to immediate custody had been exhausted after she had failed to turn her back on a life of drugs and crime.

It was in July this year she had been given a second opportunity by Judge Edmund Fowler to prove herself when he put sentencing for two assaults on paramedics and criminal damage of an iPad on hold for three months.

But within a few days of that deadline, Lawson embarked on a three-day shoplifting spree in Herne Bay, pilfering alcohol, coffee, champagne and Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Adding insult to injury, she also failed to engage with the probation service as required by the conditions of the deferment and had previously breached a suspended sentence order imposed for theft offences.

Furthermore, when it was finally time to appear in court on Friday to learn her fate, her tardiness prompted a warrant to be issued for her arrest.

But once in the dock, a distraught Lawson was reminded of how, at her last hearing, the warning of what awaited her if she messed up "could not have been made clearer".

On that occasion, Judge Fowler had even candidly remarked that he could end up questioning his "exceptional" decision to defer sentence.

Lawson had first appeared before him in August last year when he handed her a four-month suspended jail term for six shoplifting charges.

This was on top of an eight-month similar sentence imposed after, having been arrested on suspicion of drug driving, she ran from police half-naked and then bit an officer's thigh as she was being restrained.

However, in April this year and while still subject to the suspended sentence order (SSO), she attacked the two paramedics.

The court heard an ambulance crew had been called to Tyndale Park in Herne Bay after a member of the public spotted Lawson in distress.

But as they tried to help her, she became agitated, began grabbing at equipment and lashed out, trying to bite the crew member.

The mum, who had taken cocaine, also caused more than £500 worth of damage to their iPad during her violent outburst in the back of the ambulance.

It was this incident that led to Lawson, of Preston Parade, Seasalter, being hauled back in front of Judge Fowler in July.

But having been told by probation officers that she had made headway in her battle against drug addiction and her barrister Phil Rowley telling him there had been "a change in her conduct and mindset", the judge decided she could be shown some mercy.

Adjourning sentence with three requirements that she engage with probation, seek assistance for the substance misuse, and not reoffend, he warned her this was her final chance.

“This is an exceptional course of action I’m taking here and I’ll probably walk out of that door and think ‘why did I do that?’. Don’t let yourself down," he told Lawson who, after the hearing, expressed her appreciation for again being spared jail.

‘I'm afraid time has run out. I have given you every opportunity. That is the sentence of the court…’

Speaking to KentOnline, she said: “I am so grateful that I’ve been given this fantastic opportunity.

“I just want to make amends to everyone I’ve hurt through my relapse and get back to being a mother, an auntie, and a friend.

“Where I used to do porn and that, it’s a sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, but that’s not me anymore. I even went to church last week.”

But her pledge proved to be short-lived when, as prosecutor Sophie Childs told the latest court hearing last week, Lawson stole eight bottles of alcohol worth £116 from Tesco on October 1 and then £45 of coffee from the Co-op eight days later.

That same day, she walked out of Sanford Opticians with a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses worth £129, before stealing two bottles of champagne worth £73 from an M&S store on October 19.

Lawson could be heard whimpering as Mr Rowley, again acting in her defence, said it "had to be conceded that she had fallen short" of the objectives set by the court five months earlier and that the probation service had indicated it could no longer work with her.

But he asserted that "recovery was not always a straight path" for those struggling with drug addiction and mental health issues.

Mr Rowley also told the court the defendant had been exploited by others in the past and was "petrified" of going to prison.

Her lateness in arriving at court, he added, was also due to her anxiety of "coming into the building through one door and going out via another".

Adding to her distress was the fear of not being able to be at her mother's hospital bedside as she awaits heart surgery, as well as "losing the developing bond" she had forged through regular contact with her one-year-old daughter, Mr Rowley explained.

But his invitation to the court to consider imposing a non-custodial sentence was not taken up.

Jailing Lawson for what he described as "just short of 13 months", Judge Fowler told her that having previously taken an exceptional course because there was "a glimmer of hope", immediate imprisonment was now inevitable.

"It is sad but perhaps not surprising that you failed to meet any of the requirements, and I made it plain any failure would lead to an immediate sentence of imprisonment and success would give me an alternative," he explained.

"You have been given a large degree of latitude in the hope you could move away from drugs and crime. Sadly that was to no avail."

Remarking on the fact he had twice taken a chance on Lawson, the judge added: "I have done my level best to find ways for you to retain your liberty.

"You have not only failed to comply but you have committed further offences and so I have run out of options.

"When I deferred sentence I could not have made it clearer it was your last chance."

Lawson was jailed for nine months for the SSO breach, plus 12 weeks consecutive for the two assault offences and four weeks consecutive for the theft charges. No penalty was imposed for criminal damage.

It was at this point that a crying Lawson, who has 13 previous convictions for 18 offences, many of them theft, began to repeatedly ask: "Am I going to prison?"

When told that she was, she pleaded: "Please can you change it? My mum might die. I will do anything."

But Judge Fowler replied: "I'm afraid, Ms Lawson, time has run out. I have given you every opportunity. That is the sentence of the court."