A JUDGE has deferred sentencing a man who stole handbags from women in pubs and bars in Oxford.

Judge Patrick Eccles said he will sentence James Lennon, 40, in September after he admitted three counts of theft and another of handling stolen goods from October and November last year.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Judge Eccles said he wanted Lennon, who is coming to the end of a drug rehabilitation requirement order, to stay off drugs in the meantime.

He said: “If you do not comply with these conditions I am likely to take a view your pattern of offending has not been broken.”

He will be sentenced on September 12.

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