Good Samaritans' help lands handbag thief in jail

A thief who snatched a woman's handbag has been jailed after a group of "good Samaritans" drove after him.

Cavan Bryan, 21, approached the woman from behind as she walked close to a taxi rank on Court Square Brow in Carlisle and ran off with her clutch bag.

Carlisle Crown Court heard three people who had witnessed the crime followed Bryan in a car and found him a short distance away where the police arrested him.

Bryan was given a six-month jail term and had been recalled to prison to serve the balance of a sentence previously imposed for child sex offences.

Bryan, of Linton Street, Carlisle, denied a robbery charge when he appeared at court.

The prosecution accepted his guilty plea to the lesser charge of theft, based on the low level of force he had used.

The victim said she was "previously very sociable" but no longer wanted to go out.

Prosecutor Tim Evans told the court: "She feels stupid and blames herself, even though she knows it is not her fault."

Judge Nicholas Barker said the change of charge should not be seen "in any way to undermine the seriousness of the offending."

He added: "It was a real shock to [the woman] to be, in essence, assaulted in this way, for her to be the subject of your theft.

"Behaviour like this causes people to become fearful, hyper-sensitive and distressed and to become generally very nervous."

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