Addict Jailed For Killing Pensioner

15 November 2011, 17:03 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A drug addict who killed a grandmother when she fell over and hit her head during a bag snatch in Cleckheaton has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Paul Halstead grabbed the bag of frail pensioner Jean Myers in Quarry Road, West Yorkshire, in June.

Mrs Myers, 89, who served with the Women's Auxiliary Airforce, lost her balance and fell to the pavement, hitting her head and fracturing her skull.

A hospital scan showed the fracture and bleeding into her brain and she later died.

Halstead, 27, of Shirley Parade, Gomersal, West Yorkshire, admitted the manslaughter of Mrs Myers and two robberies and was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court.

Mr Justice Foskett said Halstead's "moment of selfishness'' was driven by his drug addiction.

He told him: "The loss of a much-loved elderly parent in any circumstance is always felt keenly by the remaining family.

"To lose someone such as Mrs Myers, who was still fit, active, lively and in good health, in circumstances such as these must cause unimaginable grief and not inconsiderable anger.

"A telling observation in the victim impact statement of her daughter says that Mrs Myers would have been 'devastated if she knew how her life ended'.

"Perhaps, fortunately, she did not, but that observation sums it all up. She did her bit during the war, was married for 65 years and was still leading an active life six years after her husband's death when her life, together with her bag, was snatched from her.''