A schoolgirl robbed a 90-year-old wheelchair-bound pensioner, then dumped her in a shed, a court heard yesterday.

The 13-year-old, who cannot be named, targeted terrified Amy Wall in South Shields town centre for just £5 in cash on April 12, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

She and an accomplice had offered to push Mrs Wall into Woolworths but instead, wheeled her away and slapped her face as she begged to be taken back to her husband.

She was found abandoned and badly shaken in an outbuilding. The robbers had fled with her gloves, hairband, sweets, keys and the £5.

Police were called after a passer-by heard cries for help from the shed, in Anderson Street in the town.

The teenager, from Hebburn, pleaded guilty to robbery and false imprisonment.

Judge Tim Hewitt, adjourning sentence for reports, said: "In the meantime, the defendant will stay in a secure training centre or some other appropriate place."