A woman fended off and chased the mugger who tried to snatch her purse for Christmas money as she walked to a beautician’s appointment.
David Mohan, 46, followed the woman on a bike down an alley between Stockton High Street and West Row, reached over and grabbed her purse.
He pulled her to the floor but she kept hold of the purse and he pedalled off empty-handed, as shown in CCTV footage played to Teesside Crown Court.
She said he attracted her attention saying “excuse me” and struggled with him after he made a grab for her purse at about 5pm on December 19 last year.
She defended herself and screamed to attract attention as she was pushed to the ground.
Prosecutor Sue Jacobs said today: “She picked herself up off the floor and pursued him.
“She was in a state of shock. She was determined to find him but couldn’t.”
In a victim personal statement read to the court, the woman said: “This whole incident has left me angry and violated, and wondering why I should be the victim of this crime.
“I went to have a relaxing treatment as a treat just before Christmas.
“Needless to say, the treatment was not relaxing.”
Mohan was jailed for 18 months today.
Arrested shortly after the failed mugging, Mohan told police: “I just tried to make some money for Christmas.
“I crashed into her on my bike and grabbed her purse. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
He said he had not planned the crime and confessed that it was a “moment of madness”.
Mohan, of Ashbourne Road, Primrose Hill, Stockton, admitted attempted robbery, in breach of a community order imposed last May for another street attack on a woman.
He followed an ex-partner, threw her to the floor and punched her in the back.
The court was told of his long criminal record stretching back to an assault with intent to rob in 1980. His longest sentence was two years for a house burglary in 2001.
Duncan McReddie, defending, said: “It was an outlandish and shameful attempt to acquire some money when he had none.”
He said it was opportunistic and “impromptu” without targeting or planning, with no loss to the victim.
He told how Mohan lived a chaotic lifestyle since he was a child, had been addicted to Class A drugs and still struggled with alcohol, but behaved for long periods with three and four-year gaps in his offending.
“He’s reverted to using Class A drugs. He clearly needs some assistance with that,” added Mr McReddie.
He argued a short prison sentence would dry him out and sober him up but would not tackle the underlying causes of his offending and would do little good.
He said: “Perhaps in his case the need to have him supervised, in treatment, in programmes, is a greater need than the need to punish him.”
The judge, Recorder Michael Slater, told Mohan the courts did try to help him with a community order last year, before the attempted robbery.
He said: “I accept that it was not premeditated in that you were not hanging around looking for somebody to rob.
“But at the end of the day this appears to have been a middle-aged lady walking through the town centre alone at 5pm to go to a beauty salon.”
He said it was so serious it could only be met with prison, jailing Mohan for 18 months.
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