Pickpocket used zimmer frame and crutches to trick victims during crime spree at Leeds bars, restaurants and shops

Career criminal Christine Gavin fooled victims into thinking she was ill before stealing from purses and handbags.

The 59-year-old grandmother struck 18 times at pubs, bars, restaurants and shops in the city before she was caught.

During one offence at Wetherspoons in Leeds railway station, she used one of her crutches to drag a victim's bag away from her table before stealing it.

She entered North Bar, on New Briggate, on a zimmer frame before stealing from another victim.

Another woman at Chapel Allerton restaurant Pinche, Pinche had her bank cards stolen which Gavin then used on a spending spree.

In an offence at McDonald's at Leeds railway station she stole a bag which contained an inhaler and medication.

The victim suffered a panic attack and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.

Gavin rifled through a woman's handbag and stole valuables after pretending to pet her dog in the beer garden outside Water Lane Boathouse.

Leeds Crown Court heard another victim had her purse stolen while she played on a virtual reality gaming machine at Hollywood Bowl.

A statement was read to the court on behalf of an elderly victim who had £1,200 worth of valuables and sentimental documents stolen when she was targeted at Reliance bar on North Street.

She described how she suffered from depression and anxiety.

She said: "After the incident I fear, and still fear, for my personal safety.

"I am increasingly conscious of people around me and have a fear of being robbed again.

"The reality for her is that she has gained very little financially but the anger and loss to me in terms of time, effort and cost has impacted on me greatly."

Gavin of Blue Hill Lane, Wortley, pleaded guilty to 18 offences of theft.

The total value of property stolen from victims was £5,850.

She also used bank cards and cheques stolen in the offences to obtain £1,070

When interviewed about the offending by a probation officer, Gavin blamed her victims for the offence, saying they had made it "too easy" for her to steal from them.

The court heard Gavin has a criminal record which includes 182 offences, dating back to 1979.

Most of the offences are for dishonesty and she has used 41 different aliases during her offending.

Marcus Waite, mitigating, said Gavin committed the offences out of desperation after she was diagnosed with cancer.

He said: "She had spent a year in and out of hospital and feared that she was going to die.

"It is accepted that she was using drugs and needed money for that and was desperate not to leave her children with a funeral debt.

"She had a similar experience when her own mother died a year ago.

"She asks that I offer, in public, an apology for her offences."

Gavin was jailed for 16 months.

Jailing Gavin, Judge Penelope Belcher said: "You appear to think that the victims are at fault because they made it too easy for you.

"Your approach seems to be that it is up to everybody else to sort you out.

"It is not. It is up to yourself to sort you out."