A VIOLENT mugger who targets isolated women is beginning a four and-a-half year jail sentence.

William Abel will also have to serve an extended three year term on prison licence following his release because of his dangerousness, The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton ruled.

Former boxer Abel grabbed a woman by the neck in Woodlands Road, Darlington, and tried to wrench her handbag off her.

But Teesside Crown Court heard that the 53-year-old victim fought back, bravely refusing to hand the bag over to Abel.

Prosecutor Liam O’Brien said the woman, who was walking to a bus stop at 7.20pm on April 13 this year after working late at Darlington Memorial Hospital, was forced to the floor, but Abel was unable to pull the handbag from her grasp.

He fled, but was pursued in a car by two members of the public and quickly arrested. Abel was also seen on CCTV cameras and had attempted to disguise his identity by throwing away the clothes he was wearing.

The victim had to take four weeks off work and was prescribed pain killing drugs for her neck. She described how she later suffered palpitations and anxiety attacks.

Mr O’Brien said the woman feared Abel had a knife and because of the incident she now locked her bedroom door when she went to sleep at night.

The court heard how 45-year-old Abel, from the travelling community, had similar offences on his record, for which he had been previously jailed, and which involved elderly females.

In 2002 he robbed a woman of cash, forcing her up against a wall and going through her pockets, and in 2006 Abel left a pensioner with a fractured shoulder after violently taking her handbag.

He also was convicted of possessing an air rifle with intent to cause fear of violence.

Mark Styles, for Abel, who admitted attempted robbery, said he led a “chaotic, impulsive” lifestyle and had also built up an addiction to amphetamines.

Mr Styles said the defendant, who was released from HMP Kirklevington, near Yarm, in 2013, was genuinely remorseful as demonstrated by a letter which he handed into the judge.

Judge Bourne-Arton told Abel, of Chandos Street, Darlington, that he had a very bad record and a significant history of robbery offences. He also said his drink and drugs addiction were no excuse.

Referring to the victim, the judge said: “She was going about her normal life, a hard working individual and you jumped on her. This was a determined struggle.”

He added: “You are in my judgement a dangerous man who presents a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public and isolated women walking about.”