A homeless woman with mental health problems smashed a restaurant window and called 999 because she was scared of living on the streets.
Sharon Thornton, 46, put through the window of The Gurkha Kitchen on Heavitree Road after five nights living rough left her cold, scared and desperate, magistrates were told.
Thornton, who suffers from bipolar disorder and paranoid delusions, was locked up for two weeks after admitting two counts of criminal damage.
It isn't the first time she has smashed windows to get a roof over her head and her previous convictions also include setting fire to wheelie bins.
The court was told she was now making good progress and getting the help she needed.
The offence happened on May 19.
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Prosecutor Warjinder Sadeghi said the defendant called police to say she was outside the police station and would cause more damage unless they came to arrest her.
"She told police she did it in desperation because she had been sleeping rough for five nights and wasn't coping," said the prosecutor. "She was too cold and scared to be on the streets."
The defendant is already serving time in jail for similar offences.
Magistrates imposed a sentence which would not make her stay inside any longer.
Rachel Smith, mitigating, said Thornton had struggled with her mental health for many years and had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act in the past.
But she responded well to medication and had recently been making good progress.
At the time of the incident she was in the grip of her disorder and had been living in a tent near St David's station.
"She didn't know what to do," said Ms Smith.
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"She was a lone woman who was mentally ill. All she wanted was to commit a crime to get a bed for the night. It is a terribly sad situation."
She now had a dedicated mental health worker and was working well with them.
Magistrates told Thornton to pay £800 compensation.
