A woman from Ipswich has been ordered to pay more than £300 for charges of theft and assault. 

Laura Branton, of Gippeswyk Avenue, appeared before Suffolk Magistrates' Court in March where she admitted three counts of theft and a count of assault. 

The 35-year-old had been charged with stealing groceries worth £60.42 from a Co-op store on July 27 last year.

However, the magistrates said there was no compensation to be paid as the goods had been recovered.

Branton was also charged with stealing groceries worth £54.87 from the Co-op on August 7 and she was told to pay that money back to the retailer.

She committed another theft at the Co-op on August 13, stealing groceries worth £71.83.

Branton was ordered to pay a compensation of £53.72 and a fine of £80 for this offence.

She was charged with assaulting a man on the same day as the final theft and was handed a fine of £120.

This means that in total she was told to pay out was £308.59.