A Croydon Crown Court judge admitted feeling sympathy for a homeless illegal immigrant robber despite sending him to jail.

Judge William Barnett QC told Somalian Abdurahm Osman that he had "considerable sympathy" for his plight while sentencing the robber to 10 months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to robbery and common assault.

Prosecuting solicitor Julius Capon told the court how on May 8 Osman visited Croydon's immigration office in Wellesley Road after being ordered out of a rented housing association property.

Mr Capon said: "He told security staff he was going to do a robbery and he went into a gym at the office and snatched a woman's handbag. He walked up to security and gave it back."

Osman was arrested but not charged with robbery after officers at Croydon police station decided he had not intended to deprive the victim of her handbag.

However, homeless Osman returned to the police station two days later to tell officers that if they did not help him find somewhere to live then he would rob someone else.

Officers contacted immigration services and Osman was told to leave the police station.

Within a few hours Osman was arrested for robbery after grabbing a woman's handbag as she walked past the police station in Park Lane.

The court was told the woman chased Osman towards St Peter's Road. A female police officer came to the victim's aid and took Osman back to the police where he told officers: "I did it. I will do more, more, more, I don't care."

Mr Capon told the court: "He said he was doing it to get money for food in order to live."

In mitigation, Osman's defence solicitor James Sutherland described him as "a deeply religious man who is totally against the idea of violence to a woman."

However, despite acknowledging Osman's desperate situation, Judge Barnett still sent him to prison.

Mr Barnett told him: "You were in a desperate situation. You were not getting any benefit and you could not live in accommodation with your wife and you were basically destitute.

"This is an extremely unusual case."

A spokesman for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said: "The judge is totally entitled to send him to jail and I think he is extremely lucky that the judge had any sympathy for him at all. People should never commit robbery and under no circumstances is it ever justified."