A WOMAN who robbed her grandmother, who raised her as her own, has been jailed for 18 months.

Jennifer Stewart, 35, was high on drugs when she grappled with her gran and stole her purse, containing £300 to buy drugs.

Preston Crown Court heard Stewart, of Marsh Street, had taken a cocktail of booze and drugs when she visited her 88-year-grandmother at her home in Barrow on June 1 and asked her for £10.

When her grandma refused and showed her the door, Stewart lunged towards her grabbing her nan’s purse from her cardigan pocket.

Stewart’s grandma tried to stop her granddaughter from robbing her, but Stewart ‘ragged her around’ before prising the purse from her, the court heard.

She then fled with the purse, leaving her grandma shaken and with a bruise to her wrist..

The court heard in addition to raising Stewart, her grandma had taken care of her 16-year-old daughter, also raising her as her own.

The money in her purse had been set aside to buy clothes for the teenager.

Stewart pleaded guilty to robbery and appeared by videolink at Preston Crown Court to face sentence.

She sobbed as she told the court she had little recollection of the offence but was appalled by what she had done.

In a letter to the judge, she said: “I have had a serious drug addiction since the age of 14.

“I come from a really bad family. There was one person in my family I knew I could always rely on, and that was my nana.

“Throughout the years, me and my nana have remained close and she took my daughter in and raised her as her own.

“I am so thankful for everything she has done for me.

“What I have done is the worst crime I could ever have committed.”

Since she was remanded into custody, the court heard Stewart has taken steps to tackle her drug addiction and got a job in the prison kitchens.

Judge Simon Newell, sentencing, said: “This was your gran.

“She was 88 at the time and as well as coping with the robbery and the loss of £300 she has the responsibility of bringing up a 16-year-old girl.

“It must be really hard graft for her and you know that.

“The last thing she needed was you baring in and manhandling her.

“It was a substantial amount of money and the irony is that most of it was going to be spent on your own daughter.

“You know full well what you did was wrong and you know full well the cause of what you did was drink and drugs.

“You need to address that.”

The court heard Stewart’s grandma said she did not want her granddaughter to go to prison for a long time, although she did not want to see her either.

Judge Newell handed her an 18 month sentence and made a restraining order.