A former porn star twice given a chance by a judge to clean up her act is behind bars after being told “time is up”.
Roma Lawson sobbed in the dock at Canterbury Crown Court and asked for another adjournment as the reality dawned on her that she was going to jail.
She pleaded that she would “do anything” and needed to be with her young daughter and seriously ill mother.
But the tearful 36-year-old was bluntly told that alternatives to immediate custody had been exhausted after she failed to turn her back on a life of drugs and crime.
It was in July this year that she was given a second chance by Judge Edmund Fowler to prove herself when he handed down the sentence for two counts of assaulting paramedics and criminal damage to an iPad for three months.
But within days of that deadline, Lawson went on a three-day spree in Herne Bay, stealing alcohol, coffee, champagne and Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Adding insult to injury, she also failed to co-operate with corrections officers under the conditions of probation and had previously breached a suspended sentence imposed for theft offences.
Also, when it finally came time to appear in court on Friday to learn her fate, her delay led to a warrant being issued for her arrest.
But once in the dock, a distraught Lawson was reminded how, at her last hearing, the warning about what awaited her if she messed up “couldn’t have been made clearer”.
At that point, Judge Fowler had even openly hinted that he might stop questioning his “exceptional” decision to suspend the sentence.
Lawson had first appeared before him in August last year when he sentenced her to a four-month suspended jail term for six shoplifting charges.
This was on top of an eight-month similar sentence handed down after, after being arrested on suspicion of drink-driving, she ran from police half-naked and then bit an officer’s thigh while being restrained.
But in April this year and while she was still on a conditional sentence (SSO), she attacked the two paramedics.
The court heard paramedics had been called to Tyndale Park in Herne Bay after a member of the public saw Lawson in distress.
But when they tried to help her, she became agitated, started grabbing equipment and lashed out, trying to bite the crew member.
The mum, who had taken cocaine, also caused over £500 worth of damage to her iPad during her violent outburst in the back of the ambulance.
It was this incident which led to Lawson, of Preston Parade, Seasalter, being hauled back before Judge Fowler in July.
But after being told by probation officers she had made progress in her battle against drug addiction and her lawyer Phil Rowley told him there had been “a change in her behavior and mindset”, the judge ruled she could be shown mercy.
Suspending the sentence with three requirements that she go on probation, seek help for substance abuse and not relapse, he warned her this was her last chance.
“This is an exceptional action that I’m taking here and I’m probably going to walk out that door thinking ‘why did I do that?’ .
‘I’m afraid time has run out. I have given you every opportunity. It is the opinion of the court…’
Speaking to KentOnline, she said: “I am so grateful to have been given this amazing opportunity.
“I just want to make amends to everyone I’ve hurt through my relapse and get back to being a mother, aunt and friend.
“Where I used to be into porn and stuff, it’s sex, drugs and the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, but that’s not me anymore. I even went to church last week.”
But her promise proved short-lived when, as prosecutor Sophie Childs told the latest court hearing last week, Lawson stole eight bottles of alcohol worth £116 from Tesco on October 1 and then £45 of coffee from the Co-op eight days later. later.
The same day she walked out of Sanford Opticians with a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses worth £129, before stealing two bottles of champagne worth £73 from an M&S store on October 19.
Lawson could be heard sobbing as Rowley, again acting in her defence, said it “must be accepted that she has not met the targets set by the court five months earlier and that the probation service had indicated that it could no longer work” with her.
But he argued that “recovery was not always a straight road” for those struggling with drug addiction and mental health issues.
Mr Rowley also told the court the defendant had been taken advantage of by others in the past and was “devastated” to be jailed.
Her late arrival at court, he added, was also due to her concern about “entering the building through one door and exiting through another”.
Adding to her distress was the fear of not being able to be at her mother’s hospital bedside while she awaits heart surgery, as well as “losing the growing bond” she had forged through regular contact with her one-year-old daughter, Mr Rowley explained.
But his call for the court to consider imposing a non-custodial sentence was not taken up.
Jailing Lawson for what he described as “just under 13 months”, Judge Fowler told her that having previously taken an exceptional course because there was “a glimmer of hope”, immediate imprisonment was now inevitable.
“It is sad but perhaps not surprising that you did not meet any of the requirements, and I made it clear that any failure would result in an immediate prison sentence and success would give me an alternative,” he explained.
“You have been given a large space in the hope that you would be able to get away from drugs and crime. Unfortunately, it was to no avail.”
Pointing out that he had twice taken a chance on Lawson, the judge added: “I have done my best to find ways for you to keep your freedom.
“Not only have you failed to comply, but you have committed additional offenses and therefore I am out of options.
“When I deferred judgment, I couldn’t have made it any clearer that it was your last chance.”
Lawson was jailed for nine months for the SSO offence, plus 12 consecutive weeks for the two assault offences, and four consecutive weeks for the theft charges. No penalty was imposed for vandalism.
It was at this point that a tearful Lawson, who has 13 previous convictions for 18 offences, many of them theft, began repeatedly asking: “Am I going to jail?”
When told she was, she pleaded, “Please can you change it? My mother could die. I’ll do anything.”
But Judge Fowler replied: “I’m afraid, Ms Lawson, time has run out. I’ve given you every opportunity. That’s the opinion of the court.”
