One woman’s life followed a tragic path from Debenham’s glam girl, to the dark world of drugs and prostitution.
Clair Hawley was once one of the beauty advisers and make-up experts in Debenham’s.
But the mum-of-three’s life took a dark turn to a world of prostitution, heroin and crack cocaine.
The once university student fell in with drug dealers in Liverpool and developed a Class A drug addiction that ruined her life.
Now, after turning 36 this week she celebrated her birthday alone and in prison.
Her downward spiral into drugs and crime was completed after she was jailed for eight years.
She was convicted of trying to lure people who were paying her for sex to be robbed by her knife-wielding accomplice.
Clair, from Anlaby, Yorkshire, tried to get away with it at Hull Crown Court, denying robbery and attempted robbery on July 26.
But it took the jury barely an hour of deliberations to convict her.
She was jailed for eight years for those matters and six Operation Doon drugs offences of supplying heroin or crack cocaine between September 30 and October 5, 2020.
Her suspected boyfriend, Kevin Duthie, 30, of Hall Road, Hull, was jailed for 12 years after admitting robbery and aggravated burglary.
Hawley led the way in the cruel offences by approaching the men in the early hours of the morning in the Hessle Road area of Hull and offering them sex.
Both of the men, in separate incidents within hours of each other, were enticed by her into a trap where "Scotch Kev" Duthie was waiting to pounce on them, armed with a knife.
One victim, a carpet fitter who had finished a job at a pub at 3.15am, was marched at knifepoint to a cashpoint machine at the nearby Shell garage and was forced to withdraw £100 of the £106 he had in his account.
He had already thrown £60 at the greedy Duthie while he was in his works van, in the vain hope that it would be enough, but he was wrong.
Hawley had approached him in the first place as he was sitting in the van - and it was all part of the scheming trap.
But she pretended during the trial that she had no idea what Duthie was going to do and that it came as a complete surprise to her.
She even pretended that, when Duthie opened the van door, she thought that it was the police and that she would be in deep water for soliciting.
Her descent into drugs, prostitution and robbery came full circle when she was led in floods of tears out of the secure court dock to begin her lengthy prison sentence.
But it had not always been a life of crime, drugs and sex work for Hawley.
She had studied for a make-up artistry diploma at the University of Hull and seemed set to make the most of that by working in the glamour and cosmetics field.
Hawley became a beauty adviser and make-up artist at the Debenhams department store in Hull in late 2013.
She was also apparently involved with Benefit Cosmetics, helping people with their advertised instant beauty fixes and make-up products, tips and tricks.
Hawley later seems to have set herself up as an independent beauty consultant with her own business, Polished Panache by Clair, providing mobile beauty and make-up services from January 2019.
She had three daughters and proudly boasted on social media: "Love my kids so much."
But a hint of the growing tortures that she was facing came in a poignant Facebook post in June 2020 when she wrote: "Moody but good reason oh life break required plz."
She also posted a message saying: "If you kick me when I'm down, you better pray I don't get up."
Hawley drifted into serious Class A drug addiction and she became involved in "drug running" for an organised Liverpool County Lines drugs operation.
Her barrister, Helen Chapman, told the court: "Drugs ultimately led her into sex work."
It was a dangerous world and she was attacked by the drugs gang and got involved in violent relationships.
In a bitter irony, she swapped the glamorous world of make-up and cosmetics as a way of promoting an attractive image to one of taking crack cocaine so she could "feel sexy" for her prostitution work.
Miss Chapman told the court: "She took crack cocaine to feel promiscuous and feel sexy, otherwise doing that sort of work would be fairly soul-destroying.
"She took crack cocaine to feel promiscuous to do that sort of work."
Clair Hawley denied robbery and attempted robbery but was convicted by jury at Hull Crown Court and later sentenced to eight years in jail.
Hawley had her own "patch" and "spot" in the Hessle Road red light area favoured by prostitutes.
She had suffered a troubled upbringing and the court heard that she suffered physical violence at the hands of her mother.
She was taken into foster care at the age of 14 and her first daughter was born at the age of 17.
Her boyfriend at the time was nine years older than her.
She was subjected to abuse and was introduced to drugs, which she took partly to avoid the problems in her relationship.
Hawley had two more daughters and, according to Miss Chapman, "lived a fairly ordinary existence for 14 years".
She worked during this time and it will have been then that she started making a promising career in the glamour and make-up worlds.
But she became pregnant with a fourth child and got involved again in drugs through another boyfriend.
She was keen to wean herself off heroin but, after a violent incident, lost the baby towards the end of 2020.
"She went into something of a spiral and took an awful lot of drugs," said Miss Chapman.
Judge Mark Bury said that Hawley had been working at Debenhams in a "respectable job" at one point.
"Then it all went wrong," he said.
"Your life spiralled out of control. You got into bad relationships, you made bad decisions, you started taking drugs.
"You got into the position where you were forced to do things you didn't want to do. It includes selling drugs and prostitution."
It was quite clear that Hawley knew full well what would happen when she lured the two men to Duthie, who was waiting with a knife to rob them, said Judge Bury.
Sign up to our newsletter to get the day's biggest news straight to your inbox
The Mirror's newsletter brings you the latest news, exciting showbiz and TV stories, sport updates and essential political information.
The newsletter is emailed out first thing every morning, at 12noon and every evening.
Never miss a moment by signing up to our newsletter here.
Hawley had no previous convictions before her jailing, which followed a spell being remanded in custody, but she had a caution for making off without making payment.
The judge said that it might have been possible to spare Hawley from prison if it had not been for the two very serious robbery and attempted robbery offences and if she had just been before the court for drug offences.
A sentence involving rehabilitation days might have been an option in those circumstances, but it was now just not possible, he said.
"You have to serve a significant sentence," said Judge Bury.
Hawley will have plenty of time behind bars, most likely at New Hall Prison, near Wakefield, to reflect on how her beauty adviser dreams turned into such a nightmare.