A Haverfordwest shoplifter breached a restraining order when the man it was designed to protect came to her home bearing a gift of vodka.

Claire Evans, of Market Street, appeared at Haverfordwest magistrates court on Wednesday, April 10.

Evans, 38, pleaded guilty to theft from a shop and admitted breaching a restraining order at an earlier hearing.

A charge of assault, denied by Evans, was dismissed by the bench.

Vaughan Pritchard-Jones, prosecuting, said Evans stole four cans of Bailey’s coffee, worth £5 from Morrison’s supermarket, Haverfordwest, on February 10, and ran out of the store when a staff member tried to stop her. The cans were not recovered.

Mike Kelleher, defending, said the restraining order, which prohibited Evans from contacting Richard Wootton, and was breached when he called at her home with a bottle of vodka.

“She is not perhaps the strongest person when it comes to alcohol and invited him in.

“The restraining order is to protect him from her, and here we have him aiding and abetting her with breaking it, knowing that she would invite him in because he came bearing gifts.”

The court heard that Evans had a ‘considerable record’ and the offences had put her in breach of a conditional discharge previously imposed by the court.

Magistrates imposed an 18-month 7pm to 7am curfew and ordered Evans to pay £420 in fines, costs, compensation and a surcharge.