A 51-year-old man has admitted stealing a woman’s handbag by slicing through the strap with a razor.

Slimane Benhalilou, of White Road, Cowley, Oxford, and an unknown accomplice targeted 69-year-old Sylvia Phipps in Tesco Metro in Cowley Road, Oxford, on March 26.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday he admitted one count of theft.

He was given bail but told by Judge Anthony King to expect a jail term when he is sentenced on December 11.