A TEARAWAY who robbed a "feeble" Colne Valley pensioner in his own home deserved the five-year detention sentence he received, said the Appeal Court.

The 16-year-old - named only as B for legal reasons - was found guilty at Bradford Crown Court last August of the robbery of 80-year-old Alfred Huggett, of Leymoor.

Mr Huggett - described by judges as feeble and vulnerable - was pinned down in his home and his pockets rifled for his £130 pension money.

B's legal team said the five- year term was too long because of his age - he was 14 at the time of the offence - and the lack of violence used in the robbery.

Barrister Helen Holmes told three judges in London that B - from Queensbury, near Bradford - had had a troubled childhood and suffered educational and behavioural problems.

But he was making an effort to get his life back on track now he had been locked up.

But Judge Kenneth Zucker, who heard the case with Mr Justice Morison and Lord Justice Gage, said B had a series of previous convictions, including one for serious violence.

"We can see no grounds for reducing the sentence," he concluded.

Judge Zucker told the court Mr Huggett was robbed in his one-bedroom council flat at about 2.30pm on August 19, 2003, by B and two other youths. They demanded his pension money and, although they left after he refused, they soon returned and held him down, ripping his trouser pockets and taking his money.

Mr Huggett was too frail to leave his flat to alert the police. It was not until a neighbour came round in the evening that Mr Huggett could summon help.

Police found him in a distressed state, but he was able to pick out B during an identification parade.

B said Mr Huggett had mistakenly identified him, as he was with his cousin at the time.