MANIC depressive Tanya Nicholls helped two youths and a female driver attempt to steal cases of lager from Ipswich docks.The mother-of-two was caught lifting two cases of Becks lager in to a van at 1am on August 20.

MANIC depressive Tanya Nicholls helped two youths and a female driver attempt to steal cases of lager from Ipswich docks.

The mother-of-two was caught lifting two cases of Becks lager in to a van at 1am on August 20.

She now owes South East Suffolk Magistrates Court more than £1,400 in unpaid fines after a string of previous motoring offences.

Nicholls, of Holbrook Road, Ipswich, suffers from bi-polar disorder, where self-destructiveness is a symptom.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting, told the court how Nicholls had been a passenger in a white Escort van which was let through the security barrier to the docks when the driver said she wanted to get to her boat.

Two policemen viewing CCTV screens at the docks saw the van drive past the boats and towards a trailer.

The police officers followed the van and saw it had been backed up to the open doors of a trailer.

A male youth ran away from the van when they approached and when they looked inside the van they saw another male youth, a female driver and Nicholls surrounded by ten crates of Becks lager, which had been taken from the trailer.

The three were arrested, taken to a police station and ordered to appear at the magistrates court three days later. None of the accused appeared.

A warrant was made for their arrests and Nicholls was caught on Wednesday .

The 33-year-old pleaded guilty in court on Thursday and in mitigation Mark Holt said Nicholls had gone out with the three people for an innocent drive. However he said she did admit to carrying two of the ten cases in to the van.

The Ipswich mum had no previous convictions relating to theft but owed just around £1,400 in fines for motoring offences.

The magistrates gave her a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered her to pay £30 costs for the attempted theft.

Nicholls was also charged with failing to answer to her bail, which she pleaded guilty to.

Mr Holt offered an explanation saying she had forgotten to turn up to the court as forgetfulness was a symptom of Bipola syndrome.

She was told that the 18 hours she had spent in custody had been enough punishment for the bail act offence.