A MAN who snatched a 73-year-old woman's purse to get cash to feed his drug addiction was caught thanks to two have-a-go heroes, a court was told.

Brian Boyes, 22, of Eggleston Court in Skelton was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to robbery when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Friday.

Peter Johnson, prosecuting, said the elderly woman had been in Brotton High Street on July 25 this year when Boyes snatched the purse from her shopping bag.

A retired man gave chase and was then helped by a second good samaritan who caught up with Boyes, who threw the purse to him.

Mr Johnson said Boyes claimed he had found the purse and believed it was his grandmother's. But when questioned by police he admitted the offence and said he needed money to buy "gear'' for his £45-a-day heroin addiction.

Robin Turton, defending, said Boyes was a young man who had had very difficult problems during his life and had turned to drugs at 18 following the death of his grandmother and at the end of a long-standing relationship.

He asked Judge George Moorhouse to take into account that very little force had been used in the robbery, that Boyes was making strenuous efforts to cure his drugs problem and that a probation report indicated that he was unlikely to reoffend.

Judge Moorhouse sentenced Boyes to 18 months in prison and told him: "People who attack elderly people are committing a very serious offence."