A CHESTER man stole a woman’s handbag at a North Wales holiday camp.

Timothy Robert Bailey, 23, of Clover Lane, Lache, admitted stealing the bag and its contents belonging to Gemma Cook on May 8 when he appeared in Flintshire Magistrates Court.

District Judge Andrew Shaw described it as a mean offence and ordered him to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.

Bailey must pay £50 compensation and £60 costs.

Mr Shaw said: “Sneaky is exactly the right description for this offence.

“You gained the lady’s trust by talking to her for a while and then betrayed that trust when she left.”

But he accepted as a result of Bailey’s efforts, two mobile phones and a digital camera had been returned to the victim.

David Boycott, prosecuting, told how the incident took place at the show bar at the Presthaven Sands Holiday Park in Gronant, near Prestatyn.

The internal CCTV system showed the defendant had picked up the bag and walked out with it. It was later found abandoned near a chip shop.

Bethan Jones, defending, said it was accepted it was a sneaky theft, bearing in mind that he had been sitting with and talking to the victim for some time before the offence occurred.