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Former recruitment consultant Jeanette Fidler, 44, has clocked up 218 convictions since 2000.  Police believe she has plundered tens of thousands of pounds worth of items during raids on

lockers at gyms, health centres, leisure complexes and spas across the North of England.  She was banned from all UK leisure centres, gyms or hotels under the terms of a Criminal Behaviour

Order.  But at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, Fidler admitted breaching it by sneaking into a leisure centre in Salford in July.  Despite a judge accusing her of thinking that

police and the courts were “daft”, she avoided jail with a 12-month community order.  The single mother, from Oldham, claimed she popped into the centre because she needed the loo.  But at

the hearing on Friday, Judge Bernadette Baxter said: “I don’t believe a word of it. How daft does she think people are?  “She knew what this place was, she knew there was a pool there, with

lockers and a gym.  “She could have gone to the local shops, pubs, cafes – anywhere that has a toilet. It was a clear breach of this order. She has already done time in prison and it’s clear

to see that this doesn’t work either.  “I’m not going to send you to prison as I think this will encourage your little boy to get involved with the kind of life you have lived.”  Britain’s

most prolific female thief is believed to be 48-year-old Penelope Russell, from Stoke-onTrent, with 249 offences.