'PLEASE LET ME HAVE MY BABY IN PRISON'

A PREGNANT heroin addict asked a court to put her behind bars
yesterday in a bid to protect her unborn baby.

Seven-month pregnant Rachel Truman, 24, of Woodlands Road, Newton
Abbot asked for a chance to turn her life around.

Magistrates sitting at Torquay heard Truman hopes to kick her heroin
habit in prison and is 'desperate' to keep her unborn child and give
them a future together.

She pleaded guilty to burglary and failing to answer bail at an
earlier hearing.

She also pleaded guilty to motoring charges and failing to provide a
specimen when she appeared before magistrates yesterday.

Representing Truman, solicitor Laird Garrard told the court the
mother-to-be wanted to stay away from drugs which at this stage in her
pregnancy could cause 'irreparable damage'.

Mr Garrard said: "She is desperately keen to keep her
child.

"She is hoping that she can stay in custody so she can keep herself
together. She is asking the court if they would consider a six-month
sentence.

"She knows that social services will be hovering but if she has the
chance to get past the pregnancy and beyond she hopes that everything
could be well."

He added that the offence was 'justifiable for that sentence' and said
Truman's past attempts to kick drugs had failed.

The court heard that Truman already had a place at the Mother and Baby
Unit at Eastwood Park Women's Prison in Gloucester.

Prosecutor Soo Jackaman-Hall told the court that police found
electrical equipment in the boot of a car parked outside of
Teignbridge Council offices at Forde House, Newton Abbot in the early
hours of October 19 last year.

Truman approached officers and the car and told them that someone must
have put the equipment in the vehicle while she was looking for a lost
dog.

But the prosecutor said there was evidence of forced entry at the
council offices and Truman later admitted the burglary in a police
interview.

Truman was remanded in custody in January after failing to answer
bail.

Magistrates told Truman that she should not be under any
misapprehension about the seriousness of the offence and sentenced her
to a total of 182 days in prison.

Yesterday Harry Shapiro, spokesperson for charity DrugScope said
getting drug treatment in the community can prove difficult for many
users. "They may find it hard to access services, or to overcome the
stigma attached to drug problems and fears over what may happen to
dependent children if they seek help," he said.

"For some, contact with the criminal justice system can seem like
their best chance of getting the help they need.

"However, prison drug treatment is frequently under funded and
patchy." He added DrugScope want the Government to invest more
resources in the area.

Kristian Tomblin, criminal justice and alcohol manager with Devon's
Drug Action Team said that pregnant women were a priority for
community drug treatment services. "Our treatment services have a lot
of experience and expertise working with pregnant women," he said.

"In our view that would be the best place for this kind of treatment
and support."