A JUDGE issued a warrant for the arrest of a Cheltenham shoplifter when he was presented with a suspiciously neatly-written doc- tor's note.

When presented with the note, Judge Mark Horton said the handwriting on the certificate looked just too neat and legible to be from a genuine doctor.

Judge Horton's suspicions proved well-founded when he had the veracity of the certificate checked out by court officials.

After satisfying himself it was not genuine, Judge Horton issued a warrant for the arrest of Natasha Benson, 29, of Scholars Court, Cheltenham.

Benson had been due to appear for sentence for a series of thefts.

The note, purporting to be from Benson's doctor, said she had a medical appointment.

However, the judge raised his eyebrows as soon as he looked at it and said: "I have never seen a doctor write that clearly."

At an earlier hearing, when sentence on Benson was deferred, Judge Horton said she was a "professional" thief who did not deserve a chance, but her two children did.

She had admitted the theft of two HD televisions worth just under £600 from a store in Cheltenham.

She also admitted stealing food and alcohol worth £235 from the Tesco supermarket in Bishop's Cleeve.

She had asked for four further thefts – all from shops – to be taken into consideration.

Then, on July 1 this year, at Staples, Eastern Avenue, Gloucester, Benson was caught on CCTV taking a computer hard drive out of its box and attempting to steal it.

She also asked for six matters to be taken into consideration – each saw her stealing between 200 and 400 cigarettes from shops using what were described as "crude" deception techniques.

Thirdly, she was seen to select a TV worth £80 and two £50 TVs at Sainsbury's, in Barnwood Road, Gloucester, on July 24, before trying to push the trolley through the door, but was stopped by security.

She had asked for two further matters to be taken into consideration.

When found, Benson will be arrested and held in custody before being taken in front of the judge.