Too late to say sorry, violent robber told

Judge Richard Lowden made the remarks as he imposed an indefinite sentence for public protection on 36-year-old Abel, who was jailed for three years for a similar offence in 2002.

Recommending he now serves three-and-a-half years behind bars before being considered for parole, Judge Lowden said he believed Abel posed, "a significant risk" of causing serious harm to the public.

It followed Abel's latest conviction for robbery, following the snatch from a 76-year-old woman walking home in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, on November 29 last year.

Abel, of Ashcroft Gardens, Bishop Auckland, denied the charge, but was found guilty after a trial at Durham Crown Court in March.

The court heard he grabbed the pensioner around the neck, dragged her to the ground and prised the bag from her grasp in Bedford Place.

He fled with the bag, containing about £120 and personal possessions, leaving the victim with a fractured arm, dislocated shoulder, and cuts and bruises.

Although she was unable to identify him, she told police he was wearing a red anorak.

Several witnesses gave the same description of a man in the area at the time, and Abel was arrested the next day.

David Callan, prosecuting, said the incident had a traumatic effect on the previously independent victim, who is now frightened to walk out alone and who, for the first time, needed carer support.

Annelise Haugstad, mitigating, said Abel "sincerely wishes her to understand that he's sorry for his actions", which were motivated by drug addiction.

But passing sentence, Judge Lowden told Abel: "You say you're sorry now.

"Well, it's too late to say sorry. It's been done and you don't even benefit from having pleaded guilty.

"This is the second time in five years you've attacked an old lady in the street for money, causing injury. The consequences have been dreadful for this proud and dignified lady, whose dignity you have, to a large extent, taken away."