A HANDBAG snatcher has been recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a nine year sentence.

Jason Bainbridge was on prison licence when he committed the theft in Middlesbrough town centre.

It resulted in him having to serve the rest of a sentence he had been given for an offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said the victim and her friend were on a night out in Middlesbrough on April 6 this year when Bainbridge approached and engaged one of the women in conversation.

He then snatched her handbag and that of her friend, whose she had been carrying. The friend chased Bainbridge and challenged him, causing him to drop the bags and walk off. He was later arrested by police.

Rod Hunt, for the 44-year-old defendant, who admitted theft, said his client had been badly beaten by another inmate while in jail. He is not due to be released until 2018.

Judge Michael Taylor, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, said Bainbridge, formerly of Half Moon Lane, Spennymoor, County Durham, was a violent, dishonest thief.

He told him: “You have an appalling record for offences of theft, dishonesty and violence.”

The judge said the victim was now fearful about going out onto the streets at night.

Judge Taylor gave Bainbridge 18 months for the theft, but said he would not to add to his existing release date from jail.