A judge praised a quick-thinking bystander who snapped a picture of a mugger running off – which later secured his arrest after being published on the front page of the Leicester Mercury.

The paper carried a headline “Mugged for £3″ on the day of the attack and later published the photo of the thug.

He received a four-year sentence for his attack, which left a 90-year-old woman dazed and bleeding in the street after he wrestled her to the ground and stole her handbag.

After the attack, a local woman contacted the police to say she’d managed to get a photo of the mugger as he made his getaway.

The woman was awarded £50 from public funds for her “commendable action”.

After the hearing, investigating officer Det Con Sean Lynch told the Mercury: “It is a fitting sentence which came about because the lady took the photo which was recognised by people who saw it on the front page of the Mercury.”

The victim said she was relieved the attacker would be spending time behind bars and described the efforts of all of those who helped to bring him to court as “marvellous”.

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