A TEENAGE girl who ran off with her sister's 38-year-old boyfriend was jailed yesterday for a street robbery.

Caroline Atkinson ended up living in hostels in attempts to break the "Svengali-like" hold of violent John Barnes, said Aisha Wadoodi, defending.

While drunk on stolen alcohol and anti-depressants, she attacked 76-year-old Joyce Patterson, who was showing her directions back to her hostel in Blackhall, and stole her bag, said Shaun Dodds, prosecuting.

She was chased and caught by pensioner Arthur Watson, but when the police arrived she produced a kitchen knife. She was disarmed, but another kitchen knife was found in her pocket, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Atkinson, now 17, was reconciled with her mother while she was on remand at the secure unit of the Aycliffe Children's Centre, said Miss Wadoodi.

She had not made any attempt to contact Barnes, with whom she had been obsessed. A psychiatrist said that she had used sexual liaisons to promote her self confidence.

Miss Wadoodi said: "She was 16 at the time and is only just 17. She is practically still a child."

Atkinson, of East Street, Blackhall, was sentenced to 18 months' detention and training after she pleaded guilty to the robbery, having an offensive weapon and burglary at the Chimneys Hotel, Blackhall.

Judge Judith Moir told her: "She was an old lady who showed you kindness and you repaid it by assaulting her and you took her bag from her."