A SOBBING mugger who pounced on an old lady was today starting a three-year jail term.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Mark Morton's victim was 92 and suffered grazed knees as she valiantly held onto her bag.

Sentencing the defendant, who wept in the dock, Judge Raymond Bennett said his victim had been small, lightly built and frail and he hoped Morton was crying because of what he had done.

He said it was a wonderful thing to reach the age of 92, but dreadful to be robbed at that age.

The judge said Morton had owned up to police and had never been convicted of such an offence before. The sentence was the least possible one he could pass after Morton, of Chapelhouse Road, Nelson, admitted robbery.

The court was told the woman was sitting on a bench watching traffic go by when the defendant turned up and tried to engage her in conversation. He then stood up, lunged and pulled her bag away.

The 92-year-old hung on as Morton "yanked" the woman's bag off her. She clung to her bag and her knees were grazed as the defendant continually pulled at it until the strap broke.