Huddersfield drug addict stalked parents for son's £10k wedding cash

Jun 23 2009 By Huddersfield Examiner

"She held on to it as well as she could and she was screaming out for someone to stop him," said Mr O’Malley.

The woman’s husband described seeing Black pulling violently on the bag causing his wife to fall face down on the ground.

Although her husband and others gave chase, Black ran to the waiting car with the bag and left the area.

The victim was left in deep shock and with bleeding from her head.

Black, who had previous convictions, claimed to have only got £1,300 from the money that was stolen, but even that had been taken from him by a drug dealer to whom he owed a debt.

He wrote a letter to the judge in which he expressed remorse for his actions, but Judge Roger Scott said it wreaked of "crocodile tears".

"This was in fact a pre-planned operation by you involving the use of a motor car," the judge told him.

"You made a phone call to get a getaway car and when it was there you pounced on this lady and, big man that you are, you dragged her to the floor face down so she smashed her face on to the floor and you made off with her life savings."

The judge said it had taken 26 years of hard work to scrimp and save the money. and the couple now had to do two jobs to try and give her son a day to remember.

Judge Scott said the offence was seriously aggravated by the fact that Black was the ringleader and he had been stalking his victims around the town.