A MAN targeted elderly women and snatched their bags to fund his addictions, a court heard.

William Maxwell Abel, 36, was yesterday jailed for at least twoand- a-half years at Durham Crown Court, after admitting robbing a 60-year-old woman in Bishop Auckland.

It will run alongside an indefinite sentence of at least threeand- a-half years, imposed at the court in May, after he was convicted of a similar offence, involving a 76-year-old, also in Bishop Auckland.

Abel denied that offence, in which he was said to have dragged the woman by the neck, before prising her bag from her grasp, in Bedford Place, on November 29 last year. But, having been found guilty by the jury, he expressed remorse for his actions prior to sentence, in May.

Judge Richard Lowden told Abel at the time he was imposing the indefinite sentence as he believed he posed a significant risk to the public.

The court heard Abel, of Ashcroft Gardens, Bishop Auckland, also served a three-year sentence for a similar offence in 2002.

Yesterday's sentence was for a bag snatch in Waldron Street, on October 15 last year.

Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, said it was later found abandoned in a bin, and Abel made admissions only when his DNA was found on the bag.

Chris Morrison, for Abel, said he has now abandoned earlier plans to appeal against the conviction earlier this year.

"At the time of these offences he was leading a sadly chaotic lifestyle and had little else to do other than take drink and drugs to excess," he said.

But Mr Morrison said Abel is now trying to overcome his drug misuse on courses run in prison.