Kathleen Smith, 52, of Adina Crescent, had already spent a month in jail when she appeared via a video link before Magistrate David Day in Orange Local Court.

According to police, officers were walking in Orange City Centre on January 13 when they were approached by a female who said there was a woman in the underground car park who was knocking on car windows and asking for spare change.

Following the witness's description, police found Smith pushing a bike at 12.20pm.

Smith approached police said she found an Epipen that she wanted to hand in.

However, she was well known to police and when she was told she was going to be searched she started "ranting and raving" about police as she emptied her backpack.

Among the items she unpacked was a smart phone that was missing its back cover.

Smith said the phone was given to her by "some f***head" about a week earlier and when asked why she had it she yelled, "I don't know".

Due to information police had, as well as the content on the phone, police believed the phone was stolen and seized it.

Inquiries revealed the owner of the phone to be an 87-year-old man.

After it was established the phone had been stolen, Smith was arrested in Summer Street on January 21 for possession of stolen property.

Solicitor Nico Rump said Smith had a "significant history" for offences involving dishonesty.

"However, in my submission it's still a relatively minor charge," Mr Rump said.

Magistrate David Day said Smith was in jail for other reasons as well as possession of the phone.

"She has an appalling record for this kind of offence," Mr Day said.

He said her offending was aggravated by her lengthy criminal history, which included break and enter, robbery and stealing from a person.

"The community needs to be protected," Mr Day said.

For possession of the stolen phone Mr Day gave Smith a three-month jail sentence from June 29 to September 28.

"I was going to say you should stop doing this but I don't think that will stop her," he said.