A MAN who stole a handbag from an elderly woman at the Elizabeth Shopping Centre will spend more than two years behind bars.
Keith Landers, 39, faced sentencing in the Adelaide District Court last Wednesday after pleading guilty to a number of robbery and theft offences which occurred across one week during June, 2019, and a breach of bail.
Noted as a “serious repeat offender” by Judge Jo-Ann Deuter, he was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison, with a non-parole period of two years, two months and 27 days.
The court heard Landers committed four offences across June of last year, including one count of robbery, attempted theft and serious criminal trespass and two counts of thefts.
The first offence occurred when Landers stole a woman’s mobile phone from her unzipped handbag at the Elizabeth Shopping Centre on June 20.
He was confronted by an undercover security officer who witnessed the incident, with Landers immediately handing the phone over to the guard to be returned.
The following day, Landers broke into a home and stole a number of items of jewellery, which he admitted to police he then sold for $2300.
A police investigation discovered traces of Landers blood and his fingerprints at the scene, and he was subsequently located and arrested.
Finally, on June 25, Landers again attended the Elizabeth Shopping Centre, where he attempted a “handbag snatch” on a woman in the carpark, but she screamed and scared the offender away.
Shortly following this incident, he approached an elderly woman who was shopping with her husband, and attempted to steal her handbag off of a hook on their trolley.
As Landers snatched the bag, the elderly woman also grabbed it in an attempt to prevent the theft, as a result, she was dragged, spun around and lost her balance, leading to a fall.
Landers had also breached a previous bail stipulation which required he refrained from attending the Elizabeth Shopping Centre.
In sentencing, Judge Deuter said the community “would expect” Landers to be “sanctioned for continuing to steal from vulnerable people”.
“The victim of your robbery on June 25, 2019, was an elderly woman who suffered injury, when you had no regard for her physical safety,” she said.
“The other offending on that day, when you attempted to steal another handbag, involved a woman who had a 10-year-old child with her.
“These are serious matters and, given your significant level of previous offending the protection of the community is an important factor.”
During sentencing, Judge Deuter outlined Landers’ previous criminal offending, which included several similar robbery or burglary charges.
She also detailed Landers’ difficult upbringing, including physical and sexual assault at the hands of his parents until he ran away from home at 13 years old.
Judge Deuter said Landers’ was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after several stints in prison and had been taking medication to deal with the mental illness.
“I am told by your counsel that you apologised to the police for your offending, in particular your offending involving the older victim,” she said.
“She (Landers’ legal counsel) says that you have maintained your remorse, and that you are ashamed of that behaviour. It appears, however, that you are in the grips of a serious drug addiction.”
The prison sentence was backdated to June 25, 2019, the date of Landers’ arrest.