Jailed: Cowardly thieves left Shrewsbury pensioner having to borrow to pay bills after stealing £250 in alleyway robbery
Cowardly robbers left a pensioner having to borrow money to pay his bills after stealing £250 in a Shrewsbury alleyway.
Wesley Williams and Mark Donnelly were both sentenced for the despicable incident when they appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday.
Judge Deni Mathews was told how the pair targeted the 69-year-old man as he walked home with his shopping from Asda on Old Potts Way.
The pair were described as drunk at the time they took the man's wallet, after he was pushed to the ground - hitting his head on a brick wall in the process.
They had used the victim's bank card at a nearby off licence within minutes, while £250 in cash was never recovered.
Williams, 38, from Crewe Street, Shrewsbury, and Donnelly, 40, from Buttington Road, Shrewsbury, both pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and fraud by false representation over the shocking incident.
Williams also admitted possession of a Class A drug - Methodone, while Donnelly pleaded guilty to a separate count of violent disorder relating to an incident where he threw a chair at a man in Shrewsbury's Montgomery Tower Wetherspoons.
Chris O'Gorman, prosecuting, told the court that the pair had come across their victim at around 8pm on June 1 last year.
He explained how the man was walking away from Asda carrying a shopping bag when he felt someone behind him trying to get into his rear trouser pocket.
Upon turning around he saw Donnelly, who was described as 'very intoxicated'.
Mr O'Gorman said: "As if to show the victim that he had not stolen anything he lifted his top."
