A mother and daughter addicted to drugs joined forces to violently rob and defraud the elderly in a “sickening” series of street attacks.

Cherrelle Clarke, 29, and mum Dionne, 57, were caught frittering away their ill-gotten gains in Wetherspoon's in Ramsgate.

The duo sparked a police manhunt after robbing an elderly man in a Sainsbury’s car park, before pickpocketing a frail woman in an alleyway and snatching her walking frame.

A judge told the thieves their “sickening behaviour” was “out of control", and they lacked “remorse or contrition” for their terrified victims.

The pair, who each have 22 previous convictions, were jailed for a total of more than eight years at Canterbury Crown Court yesterday.

Their crime spree began when Cherrelle left prison last summer, then attacked a good Samaritan who offered her and then-boyfriend Matthew Clark a place to stay.

They swiped £140 from alcoholic Daniel Fuller, punched and kicked him to the floor, then locked him inside his East Sussex home “while laughing”, the court heard.

Mr Fuller suffered two head wounds, severe anxiety and subsequent fear of leaving his home.

But Cherrelle would soon embark on a sustained shoplifting spree across east Kent, effectively using Boots in Canterbury “as a bank”.

She had already stolen £300 worth of cosmetics and razors from Boots in Margate High Street in March, before turning her attention to the city.

She made off with £500 worth of goods from the high street branch in April, taking bottles of Armani, YSL and Touche Eclat perfume, Estée Lauder make-up and baby blankets.

The thief also targeted WH Smith, making off with stationery worth £130 to sell for money to splurge on alcohol, crack cocaine and heroin.

Cherrelle’s wanton behaviour intensified when she and mum Dionne robbed Herbert Holway, 84, in Sainsbury’s car park, off Kingsmead Road.

Mr Holway felt one of the women pulling at his wallet and then tried defending himself during the ordeal in May this year.

But they knocked him over and ran off, leaving Mr Holway shaken and unable to get up while they cleared out and threw away his wallet.

The pair then drained his account, using the bank card in Kings Market Stores, forking out for a taxi fare and buying cigarettes and alcohol from a Cooperative store.

Emboldened and evading detection, the mother and daughter drew up to 85-year-old Patricia Parker as she struggled to climb steps in a Ramsgate alleyway in June.

One of the thieves offered to help, while the other took Ms Parker’s walking-frame. They then fled with their victim’s purse containing her bank card and a sentimental keepsake.

While a traumatised Ms Parker contacted the police, Dionne and Cherrelle were out on the town, squandering her savings on alcohol, cigarettes and food.

They bought drinks at Pumpkin Cafe in Station Approach, tobacco and snacks from convenience stores, and more alcohol from the Royal Victoria Pavilion pub in Harbour Parade.

But they were arrested inside the Wetherspoon's following a police investigation, prosecutor Rio Pahlavanpour explained.

Both gave no comment interviews but later admitted their crimes before a trial.

They appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday remotely from HMP Bronzefield, sat side by side, where Cherrelle interrupted proceedings by inhaling a vape electronic cigarette.

Judge Rupert Lowe told her the attack on Mr Fuller was a “really truly sickening assault on a completely innocent man inclined towards kindness towards strangers.”

"She understands as a mother she ought to set an example, but she is a lady who has suffered difficulties throughout her life..."

And he described her shoplifting spree as “out of control and using Boots as your bank”.

“You saw Herbert Holway going to his car in the car park, an 84-year-old man, ‘easy pickings,’ you thought, looking at an unsteady 84-year-old man.

“Off you went to do it.

“One of you saw that he had a wallet in his pocket and grabbed it.

“So he put his hand on it, turned to face whichever one of you it was, who with no remorse or contrition and being younger and stronger, yanked it from him and so he fell onto his elbow and knees on the floor.

“You left that 84-year-old man on the floor unable to get up.”

He told the pair, of Staner Court in Ramsgate: “You were walking down an alleyway in Ramsgate where you saw coming along the same alleyway an 85-year-old woman, Patricia Barker.

“And as you had done the previous month you thought ‘85 that’s good, an easy woman, we can steal from her’.”

He handed Cherrelle, who pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm, robbery, theft and fraud offences, five years in custody.

Representing Cherrelle, Niall Doherty said she was “an all-round addict” who suffered domestic abuse and wished to address her addiction issues.

Dionne was handed a sentence of three years and eight months after pleading guilty to theft, robbery and fraud.

Kerry Waitt, mitigating for Dionne, said: “She understands as a mother she ought to set an example, but she is a lady who has suffered difficulties throughout her life.”

He added the offending was a “direct product of her addiction and a need to find money to fund that addiction”.

After the sentencing, senior investigating officer Detective Sergeant Jay Robinson said: "The Clarkes were callous in their approach, targeting elderly people and either forcefully taking what was not theirs or tricking their victim with fake kindness while they stole.

"They then spent someone else’s money on tobacco and alcohol. I hope they use their time in custody to seriously question their choices in life and perhaps realise how despicable their behaviour is."