An elderly food bank volunteer lost her mum's wedding ring in a callous handbag snatch by a prolific sneak thief as she shopped in Aldi. The 73-year-old was browsing the aisles when 37-year old Martin Stokes crept up to her trolley before grabbing the bag and walking off.
Her handbag contained a yellow wedding band belonging to her mum plus a Samsung J12 phone, a red purse, her car key, bus pass and driving licence. Police arrested Stokes after CCTV of him walking away from the store at the Crownpoint retail park in Denton was posted on Facebook, a court heard.
It emerged Stokes had carried out a string of other thefts - the court heard another elderly woman had her purse stolen containing £100 stolen after Stokes asked her for help to find chicken in a Tesco supermarket.
