Inverness woman given jail warning after admitting snatching handbag from pensioner

A HOMELESS woman who admitted snatching two handbags in Inverness has been sentenced to 130 hours of unpaid community work.

But Jade Vint (22), of Eildon House, High Street, Inverness, who is now six months pregnant, was warned by Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood she will be detained if she does not complete the work.

He told her: “If that happens, your child will be born in HMP Grampian – so if you don’t want that to happen, it is up to you.”

Vint, who was also handed a year’s supervision, appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court.

She had earlier admitted the theft of £26 of alcohol from the Iceland store in Rose Street on April 19 last year – two months after the handbag thefts which occurred on February 15.

Vint’s first victim was a 76-year-old woman in the Eastgate Centre's Boots store.

The pensioner had laid her bag down as Vint walked past and quickly grabbed it and the £64 of cash inside.

Twenty minutes later, in Kingsmills Road, Vint closely followed another woman before stealing her handbag off her shoulder. But the strap broke.

Officers recovered the bag and cash.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.