A beggar has been convicted for the 36th time after stealing roast beef and turning up at a police station with a wrap of heroin concealed in her hair.

Homeless Isa Richardson pleaded guilty to theft and possession of a Class A substance at a Maidstone Magistrates’ Court hearing on Monday. The court also heard of her difficult life which included living in a tent which was recently set on fire.

It was the second time the 46-year-old has been sentenced in less than two weeks, after she was ordered to pay £20 compensation to a 12-year-old girl who she intimidated into handing over the last of her pocket money.

The court heard how Richardson, who is well known in the town centre, was seen entering Sainsbury’s in Romney Place, last month with a friend.

The pair examined goods in the store before they left, triggering the alarm. Security guards detained Richardson and her accomplice and an £18.50 beef joint, taken to fund her drug habit, was handed back.

Earlier this month the defendant voluntarily went to Maidstone police station.

Officers searched her and discovered £10 of heroin wrapped in a tissue in her hair and she was charged with possession.

Jag Takk, defending, painted a picture of a woman who had led a very troubled life after leaving her family home in Berkshire more than 10 years ago.

Richardson left her husband after he had a string of affairs and brought up her children alone, eventually turning to alcohol and moving to Maidstone, where she befriended a group of drug dealers and became addicted to heroin.

In June, she was evicted from her property and now lives with her partner Ronald Golding in a tent underneath Sainsbury’s car park, which was burned down last week.

Magistrates took Richardson’s circumstances into consideration and also heard from the probation service before handing her two 12-month conditional discharges. These will run concurrently alongside another sentence of the same length following the begging offence.

She will also have to pay £35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge, in addition to more than £400 she currently owes the court.