A THIEF who stole from a grieving widow's car as she visited her husband's grave has been given a four-month jail sentence.

Anthony Brown forced the boot of Diana Anker's Renault in Church Lane, Bromsgrove, and stole her handbag.

A cigarette butt found in the car matched his DNA profile, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Brown, aged 42, of Baverstock Road, Druids Heath, Birmingham, was convicted by a jury of theft in December last year.

Judge David McEvoy QC told him: "It's time you grew up and kept your hands off other people's property. This was a mean offence, particularly irritating for a lady of 72."

Mrs Anker, from Batchley - who died a few months after the theft - was visiting her late husband Ron's grave in Bromsgrove Cemetery on May 19 last year.

She left her handbag under a coat on the back seat but Brown forced the boot catch and stole it. The bag contained her mobile phone, £60 cash, spectacles and bank cards, said Mr Pardeep Tiwana, prosecuting.

Brown had convictions stretching back to the 1975 for violence, thefts from cars and driving crimes. He had served three years for conspiracy to steal.

Lee Marklew, defending, said Brown, a part-time mechanic, did not accept the jury's verdict. He had already served the equivalent sentence on remand so should be released immediately.