A JOBLESS former factory worker who admitted mugging elderly women is today beginning a five-year jail sentence.

Twenty-one-year-old Wayne Gadd, of Leadon Court, Thornhill, Cwmbran, had pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery committed against elderly women in the town.

He also asked for another three counts of robbery and one of attempted robbery to be taken into consideration.

The offences all related to a spate of handbag snatches between June 21 and August 1, which left elderly women afraid to leave their homes.

One 79 year old, just 4ft 8ins tall, fractured a hip and a wrist when she was pushed to the ground as Gadd snatched her handbag, while a 76-year-old heart bypass patient was left with a fractured rib when he stamped on her chest to release her bag from her grip.

A 12-man team was set up to catch him, led by Detective Constable Neil Passmore.

Gadd, who lost his job at aircraft seat manufacturer Britax after the September 11 terror attacks and who police say stole to pay his rent and TV licence, was finally caught when he left his mobile phone on a bus as he fled from his last robbery in Blaenavon.

Police called the 'Our House' entry on its phone book and spoke to Gadd.

Telling him they had his phone and would bring it to him, five officers called at his flat and arrested him the next day. Gadd admitted everything in interview and even led officers to where he had hidden the handbags.

In mitigation, his barrister Harry Baker said Gadd wanted to apologise to his victims and was "genuinely sorry and very frightened about what's going to happen to him". However, sentencing Gadd at Cardiff crown court, Mr Recorder Timothy Brennan, QC, said the offences were "among the most serious kind".

He added: "These offences contributed to a climate of apprehension, leaving people unwilling to leave their homes. Frail, elderly women seem easy targets to a young man in need of money.

"I accept the result of these offences is a calamity for you and your family, too, but I cannot give anything but a long custodial sentence."

Gadd was on the verge of tears as he was jailed for five years for each of the four offences, to be served concurrently.