AN ELDERLY woman turned have-a-go-hero when a man tried to snatch her rings after she removed them to try on jewellery.

Blackburn magistrates heard the mystery woman, estimated to be about 80-years-old, grabbed hold of the would-be thief.

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She refused to let him go despite the store manager urging her let him get away with the property.

The court heard Sabir Ahmed committed the offence just days after being given a suspended prison sentence for an attempted cash snatch from a woman using an ATM.

Ahmed, 25, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to theft and was jailed for 12 weeks with a further 26 weeks from the suspended sentence.

The court heard the woman left before police arrived and had not made a statement.

She had gone into a pawnbrokers looking to buy a ring. The manager had put some rings on the counter and the lady removed some of her own rings while she was trying them on.

Ahmed snatched some of the rings but the lady grabbed him and refused to let go.

Gareth Price, defending, said the prosecution had referred to the lady as a vulnerable victim simply because of her age.

“I would say she is a robust individual who didn’t allow him to leave the store,” said Mr Price.

“She took hold of him and against the advice of the store manager, who said let him go its not worth it, she refused to do that.”

Mr Price said Ahmed had lunged at a tray of rings and then at the rings on the counter but when the lady grabbed him he asked the manager to call the police.