Pensioner praised for fighting off robber

A JUDGE praised the “strength and fortitude” of a pensioner for fighting off a robber who tried to take her of her handbag in an alleyway attack.

Michael Kirk was jailed for two years and three months for the attack on a 77-year-old woman as she was walking to her part-time job on a stall at Morley Market, near Leeds.

Kirk, 40, of Chapel Hill, Morley, pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court to attempted robbery.

Judge Christopher Batty told him: “You saw the complainant as easy money. What you didn’t expect was her to have the strength and fortitude to fight back. She set off in pursuit of you and you ran away.”

The court heard that Kirk followed the pensioner into the alleyway close to the market on May 23 before grabbing the handbag and trying to pull it off the woman. The victim held on to the bag and was spun around, but Dave Mackay, prosecuting, said the pensioner fought back and hit Kirk on the head with it.

She fell to the ground, but managed to get up and chase after her assailant. Members of the public also joined in the chase, but Kirk managed to get away. He was arrested after being recognised from closed circuit television footage as he fled through Morley.

Ian Cook, mitigating, said Kirk was desperate for money to fund his addiction to heroin when he committed the offence.