A WOMAN was abusive to staff at a pharmacy after being refused her methadone prescription.

Lisa Clayter then trespassed behind the counter and helped herself to the drug.

The 48-year-old was charged with theft and using abusive words and behaviour, to which she pleaded guilty at Warrington Magistrates’ Court and was subsequently sentenced.

The charges relate to the events of September 13, when the defendant was due to collect her weekly dose of methadone, explained Katie Johnson, prosecuting.

The substance is used to treat opioid dependence, reducing withdrawal symptoms and cravings for heroin.

Clayter was walking to Manchester Road Pharmacy in Fairfield, but when she approached the counter, she was refused the dose by a manager who suspected that she was ‘under the influence’.

The defendant, of Farrell Street in Howley, refused to leave and became verbally abusive, calling the manager a ‘p***k’.

A few minutes later, after seeing an opportunity, she went behind the counter and drank a cup containing a sample of methadone.

She also drank from a container of methadone and left the premises with the empty bottle.

The court heard that Clayter has one previous conviction, which was also for theft, but this dates back to 1998.

Victoria Frampton, defending, highlighted how her client should be afforded full credit for her guilty plea, and stated that she regrets her actions that day, which were ‘impulsive and out of character’.

It was said that the defendant suffers from compartment syndrome, causing instability which may have appeared like she was under the influence when she was not, as she has been clean from drink and drugs for more than a year.

It was said that she ‘panicked with clouded judgement’ and was ‘hallucinating, hearing voices telling her that she was being mocked by the manager’.

“She now knows he was just there to help her, and she apologises for her actions,” Ms Frampton said, adding that Clayter was ‘disappointed to be back before the court’.

She was sentenced by magistrates to a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £111 in court costs.