A WOMAN who stole letters from the luxury home of David and Victoria Beckham was today detained indefinitely in a mental hospital.

Mold Crown Court heard how Chinyelu Mary Obue was probably carrying a knife when she called at the couple's penthouse in Cheshire in the early hours of July 1 last year.

The 38-year-old had taken a taxi from her home in Edinburgh to the affluent village of Alderley Edge, promising the driver a friend would pay the £440 fare when they arrived.

Once there, Obue walked into the communal hallway of the exclusive apartment block and stole 13 pieces of mail addressed to both England and Manchester United star Beckham and his pop star wife.

The court heard how cab driver William Scott grew suspicious and drove to a nearby petrol station where Obue, who has suffered paranoid schizophrenia for several years, was apprehended by police.

She was carrying only 3p in cash.

She pleaded guilty before magistrates sitting in Macclesfield in November last year to charges of theft and obtaining services by deception. A burglary charge was dropped.

Today Obue, wearing a cream roll-neck sweater and black coat, stared straight ahead as Judge Merfyn Hughes QC, passed sentence.