Heroin addict jailed for robbery

A heroin addict from Leicester has been jailed for four years for robbing an elderly woman in the street as she walked to a doctor's appointment.

Leicester Crown Court heard Gary Curtis, 31, from Lincoln Street in the city, had gone out on 15 August with the intention of robbing someone to feed his drug addiction.

The court heard he grabbed the 85-year-old woman's handbag and she fell to the ground suffering cuts, bruises and a sprained right arm.

Two men who saw what happened chased him along Fosse Road and held on to him until the police came.

The court was told that Curtis, who had pleaded guilty to robbery, had a number of previous convictions for similar crimes.

Jailing him for four years the Recorder Frances Oldham said Curtis had preyed on a vulnerable member of the community who was entitled to feel safe on the streets.