A pickpocket has been jailed for nine weeks for trying to steal an 81-year-old man's wallet as he did his supermarket shopping.

Ovidiu Sendre, of Hatfield Road in St Albans, approached the man while he was shopping with his wife in Morrison's in Sutton High Street on Tuesday, May 22.

The shopper felt his wallet being removed from his back pocket and turned around to find the 27-year-old man crouching on the floor, pretending to look at items on the lower shelves.

The 81-year-old challenged Sendre but he just walked away. As he tried to leave the shop, Sendre was detained by security.

As he was arrested, Sendre told officers: "I put my hand in but I did not take."

He was charged with attempted theft the same day and pleaded guilty in front of Croydon magistrates on Friday, May 23. He was sentenced to nine weeks in prison.