A mugger was today starting a seven-year jail sentence after a judge told him he had ruined the life of a pensioner.

Winifred Hanson, 86, was attacked and robbed of her handbag as she walked home from an afternoon shopping trip in September last year.

She was later found lying in a semi-conscious state in the driveway near the sheltered complex where she lived in the Buttershaw area of Bradford.

Her face was severely bruised and she also needed stitches in a cut to her mouth.

Stephen Parrott, 29, of Wicken Close, Thorpe Edge, pleaded not guilty to the robbery charge but it took the jury less than an hour to convict him on Monday.

Jailing him yesterday, Judge Rodney Grant said it had been a cowardly attack and added: "I have to sentence you for what can only be described as a wicked and despicable offence."

He said Mrs Hanson's injuries were dreadful and it had taken her some time to recover physically. "It is perfectly plain you robbed her of the peace of mind and independence that a lady of that age is entitled to," he told Parrott.

"She no longer feels able to go out on her own and suffers the anxiety of being out in public.

"You have in fact ruined her quality of life at the very end of her life when she is entitled to peace of mind and a quiet mind."

Speaking after the Court case, Anne Marshall, Mrs Hanson's daughter, said that despite her horrific injuries, her mother sympathised with her attacker.

"My mum feels sorry for him, but that's just my mum," she said. "He seems a very sad person. What makes someone do something like that to an elderly person? He didn't gain much from it."

She said her mother still lacked confidence and had not been out alone since the attack.

"Her injuries were pretty bad but she's quite a strong person and she's getting over it. But this last week has brought it back to her again," she said.

"Hopefully we can go on from here and get her out a bit more when the better weather comes and build her confidence up again."

A jury at Bradford Crown Court heard last week how two witnesses saw Parrott lying in wait for Mrs Hanson as she walked away from the parade of shops in Reevy Road West.

Although one of them shouted at him not to even think about following the vulnerable pensioner, Parrot had ignored them, said the judge.

Parrott, was described by his barrister as a "damaged young man" and during his trial the jury heard evidence that he had been drinking and sniffing gas on the day of the attack.

Within minutes of the attack on Mrs Hanson, Parrott went into her local post office and tried to cash a giro cheque which had been in her bag.