A CRIMESTOPPERS appeal in the Evening Press trapped the thief who snatched a 74-year-old man's savings and sent him flying to the ground.

Simon Christopher Dervey, 23, was today starting two years in jail for grabbing £305 from plucky pensioner Peter Wathey inside the Haxby Road branch of Lloyds TSB Bank on New Year's Eve.

Dervey's attempt to get money to buy heroin went wrong from the beginning, York Crown Court heard.

David Garnett, prosecuting, said Mr Wathey immediately went after him and the pair struggled in the bank's doorway. Though he made his escape by pushing the pensioner to the ground, Dervey had dropped £265 of his loot and the bank's CCTV had captured him on film.

When the Evening Press published his picture from the film, he was identified and police arrested him.

Dervey, of Arran Place, off Malton Road, York, pleaded guilty to theft and actual bodily harm and was jailed for two years.

Mr Garnett said staff were shocked and sickened by what they saw and the incident left Mr Wathey shaken and suffering psychologically as well as cut and bruised.

Defence barrister Andrew Stranex said Dervey had not realised Mr Wathey's age until it was too late and had only fought him to escape.

After the pensioner fell, he had waited nearby until an ambulance arrived and then left. He was remorseful for his actions.

Detective Sergeant Ian Froggett, of Yorkshire and Humber Crimestoppers, said: "This just reinforces the fact that Crimestoppers gives people the opportunity to identify criminals without ever having to give a statement or go to court.

"It also goes to show how effective newspapers, such as the Evening Press, are in showing photographs of suspects to the public and giving them the chance to assist in detecting crime."

Updated: 09:44 Saturday, March 15, 2003