Ice cream van used to chase teen thief

An ice cream seller chased a teenage thief in her van after he grabbed her £500 gold chain while she prepared to serve him in Wolverhampton, a judge heard.

Tom Fieldhouse, 18, managed to escape on his bicycle after Victoria Catalano's vehicle got stuck in heavy traffic, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told yesterday.

But she picked him out at an identity parade following his arrest more than two months later.

Fieldhouse struck as Miss Catalano served ice cream from her parked van near Field View Primary School in Lonsdale Road, Bilston, on March 2. Prosecutor Miss Rhiannon

Jones told Wolverhampton Crown Court: "He went up to the serving hatch with his hood up and as she leant over to listen to his order he grabbed the chain."

Fieldhouse, of no fixed address, who had previous convictions for dishonesty and violence, admitted the robbery. Christopher Rodwell, defending, said: "He has had a troubled upbringing." Fieldhouse was given 16 months in a young offenders' institution.