Jail for man who snatched elderly woman's handbag containing nursing home fees

A heroin addict who snatched a 74-year-old woman's handbag containing the nursing home fees for her 102-year-old father has today been sentenced to eight years for this and other offences.

Anthony Cahill of Clarkes Terrace, St James's Walk, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery on South Circular Road on October 20, 2011.

In a victim impact statement, the court heard the woman had been left terrified, nervous and afraid to walk around the streets after the incident.

Cahill also pleaded guilty to trying to rob a young Brazilian man's iPhone in Rialto on March 8 of this year, although he denied threatening to stab the man.

He further pleaded guilty to stealing €2,500 in cash, phones, a digital camera, jewellery and iPods from a house on Crumlin Road on March 28, 2012.