A bike-riding bag snatcher has been jailed after targeting a woman with mental health issues.
Drug-abuser Colin Clark, 46, cycled up behind his 48-year-old victim in the street, snatched her handbag off her shoulder and then turned round and cycled off again.
Prosecutor Alistair McDermid said the incident, which happened in broad daylight, at 3.30pm in Leven, was captured on CCTV.
Police viewed the footage and recognised Clark, who was arrested the next day.
At Falkirk Sheriff Court, Clark, of White Avenue, Leven, pled guilty to robbing the woman on May 5, on North Street.
Solicitor Dewar Spence, defending, said Clark, who lives on universal credit, wanted to “apologise” for his actions.
Mr Spence said: “It was an act of desperation on this particular day. He now has had time to reflect, and he is hopeful that this is a one-off. He is resigned to what is going to happen to him.”
Sheriff Keith O’Mahony told Clark he would be failing in his public duty if he did not jail him.
He sentenced him to six months in prison, adding: “You pled guilty to the robbery of a 48-year-old vulnerable woman who was unknown to you by taking hold of her handbag and its contents.
“It must have been a very frightening experience for her.”
