A homeless man with a knife snatched a grandmother's handbag while she was out shopping with her family.

Hazel Isherwood was out shopping in B&Q in Bolton with her daughter and granddaughter on September 10 this year when Vladimir Dikovski pulled her bag from her left arm.

Mrs Isherwood’s had just given her granddaughter some money for the vending machine when she put her purse back in her bag.

She then became distracted by a video message from her husband when her bag was taken.

At Bolton Crown Court on Monday, prosecutor Juliet Berry said: “She shouted ‘my bag, my bag’.

“A number of members of the public came to Mrs Isherwood’s assistance.”

Miss Berry told the court that there was an off-duty police officer in the area at the time and the defendant was arrested, while the bag was also recovered.

Dikovski, 29, was begging at the time after becoming homeless.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Isherwood said: “I feel lucky that there were members of the public around during the time of the incident.

“This incident will have a significant impact on me as I will always be looking over my shoulder when I am out in public.

“I am still shocked.”

The court also heard that Mr Dikovski later volunteered that he had a knife in his possession after the robbery.

Defending, Ellie Akhgar said he had this for “protection” and that he never “intended to cause harm” and that this was “simply for protection”.

Miss Akhgar said that Mr Dikovski had previously been “a man of good character”, and that the “demise” of his life came about after a breakdown in his relationship.

She said: “His drug use had started after a breakdown in his relationship after three years.

“He was staying in his car for a period of time and had a job as a wagon driver full time.

“He was permitted after a breakdown in his relationship to see his child infrequently.”

Miss Akhgar also told the court that he had been living in shared accommodation and that he had “physically been thrown out of the property by those he lived with”.

But she says that his landlord described him as a “well mannered young man” who had “lost everything”, and that he “felt sorry for him”.

The court heard that the defendant had no previous convictions and has repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions.

He pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Martin Walsh, said: “You committed an offence taking the handbag with a degree of force.

“Mrs Isherwood is still deeply shocked and troubled.

“You have no previous convictions, and it’s clear the deterioration for the defendant went from instability to drug use, which led you to commit the offence.”

Judge Walsh also said that the support he has already received for substance misuse has been beneficial.

Dikovski, whose address on file is Vickerman Street, Bolton, was sentenced to a year in prison. He was sentenced to 12 months for robbery, which will run concurrently with a 13-week sentence for carrying a bladed article.

Half of the sentence will be served on licence.

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