A teenage girl robbed a pensioner at a bank cashpoint because she needed money to feed her cat, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Kim Hardwick targeted 72-year-old Joan Dowty as she collected £200, pushing her into a wall during a purse snatch.

She only got a few yards in High Street, Stourport, before members of the public stopped Hardwick and held her until police arrived.

The 19-year-old had her own purse stolen a few days earlier, owed £5, and had no state benefit cash left to buy cat food, said defence counsel Nicolas Cartwright.

Hardwick, of Old Ford Walk, Stourport, admitted robbery and was sentenced to 21 months detention.

Mrs Dowty was robbed on April 25 but tried to chase the teenager and began shouting for her to be stopped.

Hardwick begged those who caught her to let her go and told them: "I am sorry I did it. I haven't any money to feed the cat."

Prosecutor Graeme Simpson said she was motivated by a desperation for money. She was in breach of a conditional discharge for shoplifting three pairs of trainers.

Hardwick admitted taking the purse from the victim's hand but had no recollection of pushing the pensioner.

Mr Cartwright said her problems had preyed on her mind and she made a spontaneous decision to target Mrs Dowty. She had not used gratuitous violence.

Hardwick had been an outpatient at Kidderminster Hospital for the treatment of depression after the breakdown of a relationship.

She had been on anti-depressant drugs while in custody on remand and being locked up had been difficult for her.

Judge Ian Morris read a letter from the defendant in which she described the profound effect of being in custody and expressed her remorse for the crime.

But he said it had been a robbery in broad daylight in a public street and the message had to go out that detention was the only fit sentence.