A man who was high on drugs when he terrified two women in cashpoint robberies in Dartford has been jailed for just under five years.

Steven Clitheroe, who has spent 15 of his 33 years behind bars, first targeted a lone mother withdrawing money in the early hours and then an elderly woman.

Jailing Clitheroe for four years and eight months, Recorder Charles Bate-Williams described the first robbery as “unpleasant and distressing” and the second on the 82-year-old victim as “particularly despicable”.

Clitheroe was released from a five-year sentence for a similar offence in March last year and started offending again five months later.

His first victim was approaching an ATM in Hythe Street at 12.30am to withdraw money from her daughter’s Post Office account on October 6 when hooded Clitheroe told her it was not working.

She ignored him but as she entered the PIN to withdraw £250, he grabbed her roughly by the waist and told her: “Move out of the way.”

She tried to push him and away, bravely telling him to go away, but he grabbed the cash. She demanded it back but he told her: “You can have your card.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard the “snatch and grab” was captured on CCTV cameras and the victim later picked Clitheroe out of an identification procedure.

The second robbery of the elderly widow was at a Sainsburys ATM at about 7.30am on November 23.

Prosecutor Jeremy Rosenberg said it had been her routine for the past nine years since her husband died. She would go with a friend and be aware of dangers.

After she put her card into the machine, Clitheroe, again hooded, barged between them and elbowed them out of the way. He keyed in £220 and took the money.

A witness grabbed hold of him but he ran off towards Lowfield Street after threatening he had a knife.

Mr Rosenberg said Clitheroe, who admitted two robbery charges, had 18 convictions for 40 offences.

He served the whole of the five-year sentence imposed in 2011 after being recalled.

Nicholas Wayne, defending, said the “career criminal”, of Belvoir Close, Eltham, south east London, had long-term drug issues.

“He was released into the community without any support,” he said.

“He was suffering from depression. A downward spiral began, leading to these offences.

“His objective is to become drug free. He is now the father of a six-week-old child. He desperately wants to be a good father and turn his life around.

“The picture he paints of the prison system is a desperate one. There is violence on his wing on a daily basis.

"Every day someone has a black eye and the wing is swamped with the drug Spice.

“He hopes he will be transferred away from HMP Elmley to a more therapeutic regime where he will receive the support he needs.”

“He is now the father of a six-week-old child... He desperately wants to be a good father and turn his life around" - defence lawyer Nicholas Wayne

Recorder Charles Bate-Williams described the robberies as distressing, cowardly and despicable attacks, the second on “elderly ladies who would have been unable to defend themselves.”

“You have actually spent 15 years of your life in prison, which is a pitiful situation.

“Your own father was an addict. Drugs have been a part of your life and responsible for the ruination of your life.”

Recorder Bate-Williams said he had worked closely with addicts and had seen the “terrible misery” it caused.

“If you have any chance of leading a useful life in the future and avoiding longer and longer sentences you have got a choice,” he told Clitheroe.

“You have got to make the choice in the very near future, or you can stay on the same miserable path.”