A Wrexham couple have admitted their part in the theft of a nurse's handbag from a surgery.

Tracey Marie Williams, 41 and Stephen Patrick Edwards, 45, both of Chapel Street, appeared at Wrexham Magistrates Court in relation to theft from Pen Y Bryn Surgery on May 1.

Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, said Helen Rice, a practice nurse at the surgery, had left her handbag, containing bank cards and an amount of cash, in a consultation room and alerted police when she noticed it was missing at the end of her shift.

Upon reviewing the CCTV, Williams was identified entering the surgery shortly after 11.30am and was seen leaving 20 minutes later with a handbag over her shoulder she didn't have when arriving.

Edwards' role in the incident involved him being caught on CCTV using one of the bank cards belonging to the victim at Beechley Service Station, Kingsmill Road, where he paid for goods to the value of £18.65.

Emma Simoes, defending, said the couple had been together for more than seven years and although neither of them were strangers to the court, had both been battling drug addiction for most of that time.

Ms Simoes added both had been making progress and engaging with the probation service since they were given permanent accommodation together eight months ago and drew attention to the fact Williams was the victim of a vicious baseball assault in January, which resulted in a two-and-a-half year jail term for her attacker.

In deciding to hand the pair heavy fines, District Judge Gwyn Jones said that on the advice of the probation service, a community sentence was not considered to be suitable.

Williams was ordered to pay a total of £550, of which £235 was compensation to the victim while Edwards had to pay £315 plus compensation of £18.65 to HSBC Bank.