A GIRL of 16 and her younger sister saw holidaymakers loading valuables into swimming pool lockers and then fooled staff into opening them so they could steal the contents, a youth court was told.

The Swindon youngster, who was on holiday with her family at Minehead, waited in the changing rooms at the pool on two consecutive days and watched as people put purses, bank cards, mobiles, cash and digital cameras into the lockers before going for a swim, prosecutor Stacey Turner said.

She and her 12-year-old sister then waited a few minutes before approaching pool staff and claiming they had lost the key.

Because they had watched closely, they were able to tell the staff what was in there. The lockers were opened and the contents stolen by the pair, Mrs Turner explained.

When the girls were searched stolen property was found on them.

The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, because she is under 18, admitted two charges of theft totalling more than £1,000 from a woman and a couple at Minehead.

She also pleaded guilty to shoplifting four DVDs from Asda Walmart and breaching a conditional discharge imposed in July this year for theft.

The magistrates sentenced her to a four-month detention and training order for the two locker incidents and directed that she should spend two months of it in secure accommodation.

Martin Wiggins, defending, said the family and the girl's social worker were all very concerned about her.

"The family have been put through a degree of hell by what she has been doing, the activities she had been engaging in."

She knew custody was an option for the bench and she was fearful of it, he said.

He admitted that the offences had an element of planning and were aggravated by the fact she had got her younger sister involved.

But she insisted, even now, that stealing from the lockers had been her sister's idea.

She claimed she had committed the later offence of theft from Asda because her older sister was on the run from the family and she wanted to buy food for her.

He described his client as an immature and irresponsible youngster who had yet to understand the effect of her offending on victims. He suggested that a curfew order would help her to put some element of control in her life.

His view was backed up by the girl's mother who said: "Her father wants her to sort herself out. She needs to grow up a little and realise what she is doing."

However the bench opted for custody. The magistrates made no separate penalty for the Asda theft and revoked a current supervision order.

What the magistrate said

CHAIRMAN of the bench Mrs Mary Holland said: "We are appalled at the seriousness of these offences from a girl of your age."

"We regard them as so serious that a custodial sentence is the only option for us." The girl had shown no remorse and had gone on to commit a further theft only a week after being caught for the offences at Minehead.

Tina Clarke