A NETHERTON drug addict who was grabbed by two have-a-go heroes after he snatched a woman's handbag has been put behind bars for 30 months.

Judge Simon Ward told 29-year-old Ricky Handy who was looking to feed his heroin habit the robbery had a serous psychological effect on his elderly, vulnerable victim.

The judge said: "She was very badly shaken up to the point where she has lost all her confidence, she is scared of going out and she remains afraid."

He told Handy, who ran his own business before falling into the grip of drugs, he had clearly been in a "very bad state" when he pounced on the 59-year-old woman as she made her way to Dudley town centre.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, the judge said: "Over the last couple of years things have very much got worse for you.

"On the day of the robbery I accept your thinking and reasoning had been badly affected."

Handy, who lived in Cinder Bank before becoming homeless, was "thoroughly ashamed" of what he had done, said Jason Pegg defending.

He went on: "He is not at all proud of what happened that day. He is a man who ran his own business but he got involved with drugs and he needed money to fuel his addiction."

Mr Pegg told the court the robbery was "opportunistic" and he would not have done it if he had known his victim was elderly.

He added: "When he realised he was being pursued he threw the handbag away and sat down."

Howard Searle, prosecuting, said the woman suddenly felt her bag being snatched from behind and she spun around.

She saw Handy running away and she then quickly alerted passers-by.

Two men gave chase and they caught and detained Handy until the arrival of police officers.

In a victim impact statement the woman told police she was now extremely anxious about leaving her home.

She said she had been left in a nervous state and she had even become worried about going into her own back garden in case someone pounced on her.