A COUPLE have been jailed for shoplifting in Atherton — less than a month after walking free over a botched supermarket break-in in Westhoughton.

Laura Ord and boyfriend Anthony Fearn were tracked by police sniffer dogs following a blood trail after Fearn cut his leg while smashing a window at the Manchester Road Tesco store.

They were spared prison last month, despite their actions leaving the store with a bill for more than £5,000.

Fearn was tracked to a nearby estate after suffering a serious leg injury while smashing a window with bricks and a breeze block.

Bolton Magistrates' Court was told that the burglary was a "crisis point" in both of their lives, while Fearn's mother had given her son a final warning.

But, just 25 days later, the pair, both of Glebe Street, Westhoughton, carried out yet another shoplift.

On June 1, Ord and Fearn walked into Asda in Bolton Road, Atherton and picked up two baskets, loaded them with meat and left.

A staff member spied them climbing into a black Renault Twingo being driven away from the store by Brant Chadwick.

The car was tracked by police later that day to Chadwick's home in Knutshaw Crescent, Hunger Hill,

The trio were all in the car and police recovered £41.02 worth of meat which had been stolen from Asda.

The Tesco raid at 4.45am on April 14 saw Ord fill a handbag with bottles of spirits worth £115 which they planned to sell to raise cash to buy drugs.

However, the trail of blood from Fearn's injury allowed police to track the pair to an area of wasteland at nearby Greensbridge Gardens within 15 minutes of the incident.

Tesco had to pay £2,500 to make sure the area was properly cleaned, and another £2,864 to fix the damaged window.

The couple's defence counsel Jane Novas-Morell said at the hearing: “These offences represent a crisis point in their lives.

“These are serious offences, and perhaps they demonstrate the desperation these people find themselves in.”

Ord, aged 32, and Fearn, aged 30, were jailed for six months at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on June 17.

They received 12 weeks custody for the latest theft, which will be served consecutively to the suspended sentence imposed for the Westhoughton burglary, activated as another 12-week prison term.

Chadwick, aged 28, was given a community order for the theft charge, and must wear an electronic tag for the next 12 weeks, as well as pay £295 in costs.