A man who snatched a shopper's handbag from her trolley has been jailed for 21 months.

Ambrose Draper, 24, of Menin Road, Colchester, admitted stealing the handbag from a woman at the Tesco store in High Woods, Colchester, on July 16 this year.

It contained keys, £130 cash and various other items. It was recovered by two men who gave chase after the woman called for help.

He also admitted being in breach of a four-month suspended sentence for theft, possession of heroin and possession of an offensive weapon.

For the Tesco theft, he was given nine months in jail. He got four months in total for the other theft, heroin possession and offensive weapon charges, four months for a breach of probation and four months for a burglary at a house in Colchester on February 23.

Judge Christopher Ball QC said he had been to court on seven different occasions in the past two years.

Richard Kelly, mitigating, said: "He has the kind of character to make a success of his life. There's a new-found optimism about him."

He added Draper had been addicted to heroin but was determined to beat the habit.

By Laurence Cawley

Reporter's e-mail: laurence_cawley@thisisessex.co.uk

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