A FRAIL pensioner suffered cuts to her face and hands after being targeted by a man who tried to snatch her handbag, a court was told.

Stefan Schmidt, 45, followed the 79-year-old woman as she walked along an alleyway in Oakengrange Drive, Southend.

As he attempted to grab the woman's bag, his arm became trapped in the strap and when he tried to free himself, Schmidt and the victim fell to the ground.

The terrified woman suffered cuts to her face and hands.

Schmidt eventually ran off empty-handed, but a passerby who heard the woman's cries for help chased him.

The passerby managed to catch the defendant, but in his desperation to get away, Schmidt insisted he had accidentally knocked the woman over as he was running to get a bus and he even called the police on his mobile phone.

However, it was the phone call that linked Schmidt to the crime on November 22 last year and he was arrested the following day.

At Basildon Crown Court, Schmidt was ordered to pay his victim £200 compensation and attend a six-month drug treatment programme.

Judge Rupert Overbury also sentenced Scmidt to nine months in prison, suspended for two years. The judge said: "You caused nasty injuries to a 79-year-old lady."

Schmidt, of Anson Chase, Shoebury, pleaded guilty to attempted theft and assault at an earlier hearing.