A SPECIAL needs support teacher at a Blackburn school stole camera equipment worth more than £500 from a store cupboard.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Joanne Dewhurst later went into a town centre second-hand shop and, after producing three separate pieces of identification, sold the equipment for just £40.

Dewhurst, 22, of Maple Close, Wilpshire, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to stealing a digital camera and an instant camera belonging to St Matthews Primary School.

She was made subject to a community rehabilitation order for six months.

Emma Kehoe, prosecuting, said police had been able to trace Dewhurst through the identification she had left at the shop.

Daniel King, defending, said that as a result of the incident in November Dewhurst had lost her job immediately.

She had not since found work and had been totally dependent on her parents.

"She fully accepts her liability to her former employers but the problem is that she has no source of income at the moment," said Mr King.

"She says she will pay voluntarily as soon as she has the funds to do so."