Hit and rob driver jailed for ten years

A "HIT and rob" driver who mowed down pensioners in a series of drive-by bag snatches to feed his crack cocaine habit was jailed for 10 years yesterday. Anthony Mills, 43, from Old Swan, Liverpool, was caught after police launched Operation Shilton to net the man responsible for a spate of attacks on elderly women from January until March this year.

Mills, who has three children, drove stolen cars on to the pavement and leant out of the window to snatch the handbags. After the most serious attack, Edith Quirk, 77, spent three weeks in hospital.

At Liverpool Crown Court, Mills pleaded guilty to six counts of robbery. He also received one year's jail for two charges of theft, six months for handling stolen goods and three months for being in possession of an offensive weapon - all to run concurrently.