The 'spectacular' fall from grace of a former teacher and Ofsted inspector was completed as she was jailed for her part in 'despicable' burglaries targeting the elderly.
Elenor Proctor, 36, and her boyfriend, self confessed 'smackhead' Patrick Nicholson, 34, were both locked up after the pair admitted tricking their way into elderly people's homes in Salford before stealing from them.
Nicholson was jailed for eight years and Proctor for four.
'I just spiralled out of control,' Proctor told a judge.
Manchester Crown Court heard the mother-of-three had previously worked as a teacher and Ofsted inspector, living a 'thoroughly decent' life. But Proctor admitted she was a 'functioning addict' and had been using class A drugs for more than 15 years.
Ex-teacher Elenor Proctor, 36, who has been jailed for four years for burgling elderly people
Sentencing, Judge Richard Mansell QC told her: 'Yours is a salutary tale in the evils of drugs, and particularly heroin and crack cocaine.'
Her barrister said the 15-year relationship with her former partner was 'not loving' and that she decided to end it 'for the benefit of her and her children'.
When her partner made 'malicious allegations' about her, Proctor was prevented from entering the family home and ended up homeless, the court was told.
She then met Nicholson, a father-of-four who served a six-year prison sentence for attempted robbery.
The pair were together for a 'matter of months' when, to feed their class A drugs habits, they began to commit the burglaries.
The judge said Nicholson was the 'brains' behind the criminal scheme, but that Proctor played a 'full and vital part'.
In just over a week in late March and early April, the pair, both originally from Bradford, struck at four households in Eccles.
They approached an 83-year-old woman at a bus stop near her home and told her that her pipes needed to be checked, because there had been a water leak nearby. She let the pair into her home, and after Nicholson had pretended to check the pipes he asked for payment.
He took away her card and PIN number, promising to bring a receipt.
They rushed to a cash machine in Monton and withdrew £2,050. The victim now sometimes shakes uncontrollably when she recalls her ordeal, and began barricading herself into her home at night using stepladders.
Patrick Nicholson, 34, who has been jailed for eight years after committing burglaries targeting the elderly
Days later, Nicholson knocked on the door of a 76-year-old woman's home and claimed his son had kicked a ball into her garden.
At one point Nicholson changed his story and the woman, who had been burgled the week before, realised what was happening.
She asked them to leave, but one of them stole her handbag, which contained more than £130 and a bank card later used in a shop.
Items of sentimental value, including her grandfather's pocket watch, which she was taking to get fixed, and pictures of her
