Car thief who shoved 86-year-old woman locked up
A man who pushed an 86-year-old elderly woman to the ground to steal her car has been jailed for more than seven years.
Callum Ball, aged 20 and of no fixed address, pushed the woman to the floor from behind before jumping into her silver Ford Fiesta and driving off at about 5pm on April 17 last year.
The victim had briefly got out of her car and left it running to post an item in a letterbox at the Spar in Wardles Lane, Great Wyrley.
When returning to her car, she was thrown out of the way and suffered minor injuries to her hand and nose.
The following day officers spotted the vehicle in Bloxwich at around 2.45am.
The car drove straight at the marked police car and an officer driving the vehicle had to mount the pavement to avoid a crash. The Fiesta made off but officers found it at around 50 minutes later.
The car theft came less than a month after a burglary where Ball attacked a woman and stole a gold bracelet in Colliers View, Rugeley.
He was sentenced to a total of seven years and nine months in prison for a variety of charges related to the two incidents at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday.
Ball pleaded guilty to robbery, criminal damage, actual bodily harm and burglary and was found not guilty of aggravated burglary.
He was sentenced to three years and three months for the robbery of the car and three years for burgling the house in Rugeley. He was also sentenced to one year in prison for actual bodily harm of the woman in Rugeley.
The court also jailed Ball for six months for a theft of a motor vehicle from the West Midlands and he was disqualified from driving for 58 months and given a 10-year restraining order.
Detective Constable Daniel Douglas, from Staffordshire Police CID, said: “Ball preyed on a vulnerable woman who simply pulled up to post a letter. She was thrown out of the way, injured and left shaken.
“We are pleased with this sentence and will continue to bring offenders to justice.”
