11 February 2024 , 16:22
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A cashpoint robber "fuelled by drugs and alcohol" injured a woman who as recovering from cancer and a stroke.
For the first time in weeks, the victim had plucked up the courage to her house along. Shortly after she did she had her confidence shattered by the "disgraceful" actions of Christopher Newton.
The 45-year-old woman had headed to a cash machine at a Spar in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear at around 2.30pm on July 9 last year and took out £30. As she was putting the cash and her card away Newton grabbed her purse and attempted to pull it from her, Chronicle Live reported. Despite her brave resistance and efforts to hold on, the robber took her purse containing £40 as well as a debit card. He ran off, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The case was heard at Newcastle Crown Court (NCJ Media)Newton was easily identified because he was a regular customer at the store. Police were on their way to the Spar to take statements when they spotted the thief, who tried to run away but was caught and arrested. He had an ID card belonging to the woman stuffed into his sock.
In a victim impact statement, she said: "This experience has really upset and shocked me. I'm currently recovering from stomach cancer which requires many medical appointments and I had a stroke last year. I don't regularly leave the house and it was the first time in a month I left the house by myself. The experience has really destroyed my confidence to do this again."
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Newton, 29, of no fixed address - who has 33 previous convictions, including for robberies in 2013 and 2017, for which he was jailed for five years - pleaded guilty to robbery and was jailed for three years and four months.
Recorder Nicholas Lumley KC told him: "What you did was disgraceful. Fuelled by drugs and alcohol, you grabbed at her. When she tried, courageously, to resist, you caused her cuts and bruises. You didn't think for one minute she would struggle and attempt to fight back."
Sue Hirst, defending, said: "I would like to emphasise how sorry he is for what he did to this lady. In the cold light of day and not under the influence of substances, he understands how distressing it must have been and he is genuinely remorseful. He had been released from prison and was homeless. He made the wrong decision to take some drugs and alcohol. He did not target her, he certainly did not know she had been in poor health. She was simply the unfortunate person who happened to go to the cashpoint when he was there.
"When he heard about her medical problems he was particularly upset about what he had done." Miss Hirst added that Newton has schizophrenia and that he had been left devastated when his partner died.