'Full of hate': Corby robber preyed on woman to snatch her savings

She fled with £820 in cash
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A robber preyed on a mum to steal her savings before punching her when she desperately tried to get the money back.

Drug addict Joanne Craft was in the queue at Corby's Greenhill Rise McColl's when a woman, who was with her one-year-old son, attempted to send £820 to her family overseas.

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She watched as the unsuspecting woman was told she couldn't because the system wasn't working - before snatching the cash from her outside, attacking her and fleeing.

Joanne Craft.Joanne Craft.
Joanne Craft.

Yesterday (Tuesday) the 37-year-old was jailed for 30 months at Northampton Crown Court.

The court heard that on the afternoon of May 8, 2019, the victim had been told by the cashier that she had to go to another shop instead to pay the money in. She put it in her jacket pocket and left.

Craft, who had clocked the wad of cash, paid for her items and also left the store before getting into her car and reversing towards the victim, who was with her son and on the phone.

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But she then got out of the car and grabbed the victim's coat to steal the cash.

Prosecuting, Priya Bakshi said: "She knew exactly where the money was."

The victim screamed and ran after Craft as a passer-by looked after her son.

Craft, of Blenheim Walk in Corby, stuffed the cash down her top and jumped into the car and onto the lap of an unidentified man, who was in the driver's seat.

But the victim wouldn't give up.

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She reached in through the window to try and pull the robber out of the car - only for Craft to try and grab her mobile phone before the vehicle sped off. The car was found abandoned three days later with Craft's DNA in it.

The court heard the victim was left with an 'unpleasant' scratch to her nose, is now scared on her own and said her son gets upset at loud noises as a result of the incident.

Ms Bakshi said: "She remembers that the defendant was full of hate.

"It shocked her..she is suffering from panic attacks and has flashbacks."

Craft's crimes didn't end there, however.

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She was on bail when she stole a man's wallet at the BP Fourways garage after standing behind him in a queue on March 18 last year.

Then, on September 9, a folding pocket knife was found in her bag when police stopped a vehicle and searched it. She claimed she found the knife and forgot to hand it in.

And two weeks later, on September 24, police found CS gas and cannabis in her bag after another vehicle search in Kettering. She claimed she had found the CS gas on the floor.

Craft, who appeared over video-link from HMP Peterborough, later admitted robbery, possession of a knife, possession of a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid, theft, possession of cannabis, driving without insurance and failing to surrender.

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The court heard she had convictions for 39 crimes dating back to 1998, mainly for shoplifting and driving offences, with one knife offence in 2007.

Mitigating, Rajesh Pabary said Craft had been making efforts to rid herself of her drug addiction in prison having been addicted at a very young age.

He said she was remorseful and urged Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking QC to bring the sentence down to a length which could be suspended so she could turn her life around.

He said: "It's something that she regrets and it's something, in sober hindsight, she is ashamed about.

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"She wants to put this behind her, she wants to write her (the robbery victim) a letter of apology and she wants to get on with her life."

But Judge Lucking said that nothing other than an immediate prison sentence would be appropriate.

She told Craft: "What you did was, in effect, prey on a woman who was vulnerable because she had her child with her."

Craft will serve half of her 30-month sentence in custody before being released on licence.