A DRUG addict thief released six months early from a prison sentence snatched a woman's handbag on a train — then asked a sheriff to take pity on HIM.

Christopher Cummings — who has been offending for 16 years — made a beeline for his victim and swiped it from her at Drumfrochar before fleeing the carriage and sprinting along the station platform.

The 31-year-old was caught after a bystander took photos of him rifling through the black handbag and discarding items from it on the top of a hedge.

But the multiple offender — most recently jailed after threatening to stab shopworkers — claims he only carried out the theft because he was 'destitute'.

Defence lawyer Gerry Keenan told Greenock Sheriff Court how Cummings had phoned him 48 hours before the crime to tell him he had no money.

Mr Keenan said: "Mr Cummings told me that he was number 75 in a queue waiting to be assessed (for emergency benefits cash).

"His principal motivation was to obtain money to alleviate his destitution.

"There is no excuse for acquiring another person's property but this happened 48 hours after his call of distress to me and nothing had been done to alleviate that distress and this led to this desperate act."

Cummings has convictions for using discarded till receipts to obtain 'refunds' from shops, stealing a doctor's bank card, using the card to buy goods and threatening to stab petrol station shop staff with an imaginary knife after being caught him shoplifting at 3.30am.

The court heard previously that he is hooked on crack cocaine.

Prosecutor Mark Nicol said of the handbag theft: "He approached the and asked her for spare money for train fare.

"The request was declined and the witness got on the train on a different carriage from the accused but he entered her carriage and stood next to her seat.

"When the train arrived at Drumfrochar he approached the witness and said, 'Don't worry about them asking for a ticket, they won't do it cos of the virus'.

"The accused then grabbed the bag and ran from the train."

Cummings pleaded guilty to stealing the bag and its contents on a journey between Branchton and Drumfrochar stations.

He committed the offence on March 22.

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre said: "There are 16 years of offending.

"He was on licence and it would send out the wrong message if a person was allowed to commit an offence on their early release from prison."

The sheriff told Cummings: "I'm afraid that your record is just too bad in recent times."

Cummings has been returned to prison for the six months remaining of his previous sentence and given a further six months for the handbag theft."

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