Daylight purse snatch

City centre crime

A man snatched a purse out of an unsuspecting 50-year-old woman’s handbag in broad daylight while she was walking through Perth city centre.

But the police were able to pinpoint and arrest Wojciech Pindal (24) within an hour of the crime being committed after the woman was able to describe what he had been wearing when he ran off.

Perth Sheriff Court heard last week Pindal, of St Catherine’s Square,Perth, seemed genuinely remorseful when he admitted pinching the purse, telling officers at the time: “I feel bad about it.”

Describing what had happened on April 5 this year depute fiscal Bill Kermode said the woman had been walking towards traffic lights on Caledonian Road at around 2pm when “she felt a tug on her handbag”.

“She looked down and noticed a packet of handkerchiefs was lying on the pavement,” Mr Kermode continued. “She then looked in her handbag and noticed her purse was missing.

“She looked up and saw the accused running away from her. She noticed he was wearing a brown camouflage jacket and black trousers.”

Two police constables traced Pindal at around 12.45pm the same day, Mr Kermode continued, then found the same items of clothing at his house. He said that about an hour-and-a-half later Pindal admitted pinching the purse, adding: “I feel bad about it. This is the first time I have stolen anything. It won’t happen again.”

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis deferred sentence so a criminal justice social work report could be prepared on Pindal. He will return to court for sentencing on June 13.