Tabitha Saker has enrolled at K College in Dover

by Paul Hooper

A drug addict whose craving for heroin landed her mother with a jail sentence is starting a new life... as a LAW student.

Tabitha Saker has enrolled at K College, in Dover, to pursue her legal studies - as she battles her addiction to illegal drugs.

Judge Michael O'Sullivan quipped: "Well, she has had some experience in law - well, in criminal law anyway."

Saker - who appeared for sentence for theft at Canterbruy Crown Court in a t-shirt bearing the logo: "Anyone You Can Do, I Can Do Better" - had faced going to prison for breaching court orders.

Her mother Julia Saker, 50, had served a 12-month prison sentence when she gagged and bound her daughter in a desperate bid to stop her buying drugs.

In March, the 20-year-old, of Malvern Road, Temple Ewell, near Dover, had been remanded in custody after arriving at court with syringes she tried to flush down the toilets.

"she seems to be getting back to the tabitha we once knew…” – tabitha saker's father tim

After her release, the judge gave her a month to prove she was serious about kicking the habit.

Now her barrister, Christopher Sutton-Maddox, told the court her latest probation report had concluded there had been a "huge improvement" over her previous drugs tests.

Judge O'Sullivan said Saker had also on occasions missed some of her tests, adding: "That's one of the problems and there is a fear that one of the reasons she hasn't attended was because she had been taking drugs.

"However, she is looking much better than I have seen her in the past when she has been taking drugs and looked in poor health."

Mr Sutton-Maddox said: "She has certainly been making an effort – just how successful only time will tell. She has also enrolled at college to study psychology, English literature and, perhaps in this instance unfortunately, law."

The judge told her father Tim Saker, who sat in the public gallery: "I have been dealing with your daughter for some time to safeguard her.

"It seems to me that although there are some backward steps the forewarn momentum in her life is positive."

Civil servant Mr Saker replied: "There certainly has been a marked improvement in her attitude. We are not getting the same we were getting before. She seems to be getting back to the Tabitha we once knew."

Tabitha Saker was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court

The judge gave her a 12-month community order for theft, which includes a three-month treatment for her drugs addiction and a three-month curfew order – forcing her to stay indoors between 7.30pm and 6am.

Judge O'Sullivan added: "You have made considerable strides since I last saw
you. You have it in you to pass your exams and live a law-abiding life."