A FORMER soldier whose life has been blighted by drug addiction was last night starting an 18-month prison sentence for snatching a handbag from a pensioner.

Christopher Atkinson struck minutes after the 69-year-old woman had withdrawn £500 from a town centre branch of her bank in Hartlepool last September.

Atkinson was chased by eye-witnesses but managed to escape, and dumped the bag – minus the cash – in a cemetery, Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday.

When he was later arrested, the 29-year-old admitted being in the Murray Street area that morning to look for his sister, but denied mugging the woman.

At a court hearing last month, Atkinson was due to go on trial but pleaded guilty when he was given an indication by a judge that he would receive two years.

The proposed sentence was reduced further yesterday after Judge George Moorhouse heard a number of positive things about Atkinson from his barrister.

Joseph Spencer, mitigating, said the former petty thief had largely stayed out of trouble for a decade, but returned to crime when he started taking heroin again.

Since the robbery on September 2, Atkinson has kicked his habit, has been given custody of his daughter, and has a Government-backed job as a headstone engraver.

Mr Spencer said: “Your Honour may feel that the person who appears before you today is a completely different person to the man who committed this crime.

“He knows he did wrong and has to be punished. He is sincerely apologetic and ashamed of his behaviour and knows that a custodial sentence is appropriate today.”

Atkinson, of High Street, the Headland, Hartlepool, was told by Judge Moorhouse that even though the victim was not injured, he still had to go to prison.

“Members of the public are entitled to be protected from people like you,” he added. “It seems to me that your addiction to heroin in the past has been your downfall.”

The court heard that Atkinson owed a dealer £300 when he snatched the handbag, but he was told by Judge Moorhouse: “That doesn’t justify your actions.”