'Clean' woman's sentence let off

A district judge imposed a curfew on Emma McNicholas instead

A woman has been let off her community service order imposed for handling a stolen mobile phone because of her obsession with cleanliness.

Llandudno magistrates' court heard that 18-year-old Emma McNicholas was worried about working in a charity shop because of second hand property.

North Wales probation service accepted she had obsessive compulsive disorder.

District judge David Webster was told there was no other work available that would not involve cleanliness issues.

Defence solicitor Chris Dawson said she had failed to pick up litter previously because of her situation.

Curfew

He added: "She doesn't, with the best will in the world, feel able to contemplate working in a charity shop without difficulty."

Obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD provokes recurrent irrational thoughts such as fears about contamination or accidents, and compulsion to follow fixed rituals.

Repeated hand washing is a common symptom of OCD.

McNicholas, of Kings Road, Llandudno, was cleared of breaching the original court order after no evidence was offered by the probation service.

The judge revoked the previous sentence and imposed a two-month curfew to last between 2000 BST and 0700 BST instead.