EXCLUSIVE I was cleared of stealing £19,000 worth of designer items because I have kleptomania and voices in my head told me to do it

A prolific shoplifter who was cleared of stealing £19,000 worth of designer items because of her mental health issues claims she suffers from kleptomania and cant help taking things.

Melissa Grant, 55, was part of a professional female shoplifting gang dubbed The Spice Girls who would raid exclusive shops in Londons West End and grab huge quantities of expensive clothes and lingerie.

The mother-of-two was jailed for almost two years in 2009 for those crimes.

The gang also struck at shops in Bluewater, Kent and Lewes in Sussex.

But last week when she appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court charged with four counts of theft from Selfridges over four days in December last year prosecutors decided that public interest wasnt met in pursuing a conviction against Grant due to her mental health problems.

Now Grant has confirmed that those mental health issues are that she claims to suffer from a compulsion to take things from shops – even when she doesnt want to.

In an exclusive interview from her home in Forest Hill, south London, Grant claimed that she doesnt want to steal but the voices in her head tell her to do it.

She said: Because of my mental health, I have an urge to steal. I cant stop myself.

Melissa Grant (pictured), 55, was cleared of stealing £19,000 worth of designer items because of her mental health issues

Grant (pictured) claims she suffers from kleptomania and cant help swiping things from shops

Grant (pictured) was part of a professional female shoplifting gang dubbed The Spice Girls who would raid exclusive shops in London s West End and grab huge quantities of expensive clothes and lingerie

I was diagnosed with kleptomania. I take stuff I dont want or need; I just cant help myself. Ive tried, but I get anxiety and panic attacks.

I cant stop myself. Something in my head is telling me I need to take it. The voices in my head are telling me I need to take it.

Grant first came to UK from Jamaica when she was 18 in 1990, with her two children looking for a better life.

But she says she soon fell into a life of crime because claims it was difficult to decipher right from wrong because of her personality disorder.

In her most recent brush with the law, she was charged over the theft of two designer handbags worth £4,730, four Optika shirts worth £2,800, five Cas Lee shirts to the value of £6,620, a £1,810 medium logo bag, and a £325 Oblique Bylon cap as well as a £2,650 Alalia dress.

After being spared a conviction for her latest shoplifting spree, Grant said there would be no benefit in putting her back behind bars.

The judge did what he thinks is right…because sending me to prison, what is the benefit in that? she said.

When you go to prison, theres nothing there for you. I have been there already. I went back to prison in December, and nothing changed; everything is worse.

Last week, she appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court charged with four counts of theft from Selfridges (pictured) on Oxford Street in London over four days in December last year

In an exclusive interview from her home in Forest Hill, south London, Grant (pictured) claimed that she doesnt want to steal but the voices in her head tell her to do it

Grant (pictured) said she has an urge to steal because of her mental health issues and cant stop herself

She added: I want help and I want the support.

Kleptomania is a mental health disorder that involves repeatedly being unable to resist urges to steal items that you generally dont really need. Often the items stolen have little value and you could afford to buy them.

During her 2009 court trial for shoplifting, it was heard that Grant behaved aggressively towards a shop assistant during the gangs stealing spree, saying to her companion, I feel like spitting in her face.

One of her accomplices was then stopped by officers who found the bags were full of stolen clothing from GAP, Uniqlo, Oasis and Next, which included 15 pairs of trousers, four tops and three pairs of shoes.

Police later spotted Grant and the rest of the gang loading more black sacks into the boot of an Audi before arresting them.

The bags were also found to contain stolen clothes from All Saints and Warehouse, with all the items totalling to a value of around £1,500.

They later raided a flat in Southwark linked to the gang and found £10,700 worth of clothes and underwear from La Senza, Topshop, Next, Monsoon and River Island with the security tags still on them.

There was a further £10,700 worth of goods with the tags off, including underwear from upmarket erotic boutique Coco de Mer.

Prosecutors decided that public interest wasnt met in pursuing a conviction against Grant for her thefts from Selfridges due to her mental health problems (file image)

The mother-of-two was jailed for almost two years in 2009 for the thefts she committed with the professional female shoplifting gang she was in dubbed The Spice Girls

After being spared a conviction for her latest shoplifting spree, Grant said there would be no benefit in putting her back behind bars

Grant said: When you go to prison, theres nothing there for you. I have been there already. I went back to prison in December, and nothing changed; everything is worse

Recalling her time in jail previously Grant said prison didnt rehabilitate her – and said she returned to shoplifting to feed her drug habit and feed her family during the cost-of-living crisis.

Youre just locked up in your cell, theres nothing structured for you. Prison isnt always the answer because while you are in there, you arent learning, she said.

For rehabilitation, you need something in the community. You need something there to help people with mental health.

There was no support for me. I couldnt get a job because of my criminal record. Its hard for people like me. Ive tried to get a job.

She claims that due to her mental health struggles and her troubled background that she often ends up back down the wrong path.

She said: When someone calls me or different gangs, I dont know how to say no because my mental health makes me feel like I need them for reassurance.

No one asked me why, to get to the bottom of it.

When asked why she turned to shoplifting, Ms Grant told MailOnline: Well, one was to feed my drug habit, and to feed my children and my family, I didnt have any status in this country, so I couldnt work.

Speaking of her Kleptomania and stealing Grant added: I want help and I want the support

Kleptomania is a mental health disorder that involves repeatedly being unable to resist urges to steal items that you generally dont really need

Recalling her time in jail previously Grant said prison didnt rehabilitate her – and said she returned to shoplifting to feed her drug habit and feed her family during the cost-of-living crisis

She claims that due to her mental health struggles and her troubled background she often ends up back down the wrong path

Instead of shoplifters like herself being punished for what she dubbed a minor crime, she believes officials should be getting to the root of why they are unable to stop stealing

Grant said she started shoplifting in order to feed her two children as she has no status in the UK to work

Detailing her difficult and impoverished childhood in Jamaica as well as the loss of family relatives to violence, Ms Grant quipped: Its not like I have an upbringing where I know right from wrong

The only way of finding food for my children was by doing what I was doing and stealing to feed them.

People see me as a bad person, but no one understands that I came here with two young children on my own.

Detailing her difficult and impoverished childhood in Jamaica as well as the loss of family relatives to violence, Ms Grant quipped: Its not like I have an upbringing where I know right from wrong.

Instead of shoplifters like herself being punished for what she dubbed a minor crime, she believes officials should be getting to the root of why they are unable to stop stealing.

A lot have mental health problems, a lot of us are troubled, there is no cure, and nobody tries to understand, she argued.

I would love to change, she said.

I have remorse, Im not happy about anything that I have done. I also take full responsibility.

I am not happy about anything that I have done. I am not proud of it, but I do need help.

All I need is help and reassurance, but no one is there to help me. What do you do? So I end up back down the same path.

She added: Ive tried to turn my life around, Ive tried to change.