JAILED: Drug addict threw pensioner to the ground in Walsall robbery

Shane Brooks targeted pensioner Carol Aulton when he saw her walking along Old Birchills, Walsall, on January 30, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

CCTV footage played to the court showed Brooks, aged 25, crossing the road with another man before he grabbed the pensioner's handbag.

Miss Heather Chamberlain, prosecuting, said the force of Brooks' actions 'swung her around and sent her crashing to the floor'.

The defendant could then be seen running off with the bag while Mrs Aulton lay motionless on the pavement.

During the ordeal she 'banged her face on the floor', said the prosecutor, and was treated for cuts to her face, a broken tooth and a graze to her arm.

"The result was quite unpleasant for the victim," said Miss Chamberlain. "It was significant force on a vulnerable victim."

Brooks' haul from the robbery amounted to £10 in loose change and a £20 gift voucher, she added.

He was arrested on March 25 after he had been identified following a police appeal on social media.

The court was told that during an interview Brooks made no comment and claimed to have no fixed address.

But a key was found in his pocket to a property he was staying in.

A search of the house unearthed the distinctive sweatshirt he wore during the robbery.

Miss Chamberlain said that Brooks had 11 previous convictions for 17 offences. When he committed the robbery he was on licence having received a suspended sentence for theft in October 2014.

Mr Mukhtar Ubhi, defending, said the offence had taken place 'very quickly' and that the victim's injuries 'could have been a lot worse'.

"He had relapsed in relation to his drug use and was intoxicated at the time," added Mr Ubhi.

"It was an opportunistic offence.

"He did not go out intending to rob anyone that day.

"The actual physical violence that was used was essentially a result of him grabbing the bag.

"He wishes to, if he could, personally apologise to the victim."

Brooks, of no fixed address, admitted robbery.

He was jailed for 40 months and ordered to serve his previously suspended sentence of 12 weeks on top.

Judge Martin Walsh told him: "Somebody who was subjected to such an episode would have been traumatised significantly."