A DRUG addict who stole perfume worth more than £1,000 from a Dunfermline store has avoided a prison sentence.

Terri Docherty, 31, was placed on a drug treatment and testing order after admitting the theft from Debenhams in the Kingsgate Centre.

She was stopped soon after leaving the shop with goods worth a total of £1,195.

Appearing for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Docherty, of East March Street, Kirkcaldy, had previously pleaded guilty to a charge that she stole a quantity of perfume on April 6.

Solicitor David McLaughlin said his client had suffered from a drug problem for a while. "It appears to have got to the stage were there are certain people raising real concerns about her short-term future," he told the court.

"If she doesn't start to knock her drug-taking on the head, she could end up in far worse places than this court room.

"She has been on methadone for six weeks and in these six weeks she has already seen an improvement. She recognises that she really does need help."

Sheriff James Macdonald said it was a high-value theft which was at a level where he had to consider a prison sentence.

"I am alerted to the availability of a Drug Treating and Testing Order," he said. "I am satisfied that would be appropriate in this case. Your discount for pleading guilty is you are not going to prison. That is as stark as it gets. You should be under no illusions that this is a direct alternative to custody."

He placed her on the order for 18 months.