A MAN has been jailed for three years for the robbery of a woman in Puriton on New Year’s Eve in 2022.

Cory Farrar, 27, of Shervage Court, Bridgwater, watched the victim, a woman in her 80s, buy groceries before following her onto Riverton Road. He then snatched her bag of groceries and purse containing cash and bank cards, causing her to fall to the ground.

He was identified following CCTV enquiries and witness accounts and was arrested the following morning.

Farrar was subsequently charged with robbery and he pleaded guilty in May this year. He was sentenced to three years in prison when he appeared at Taunton Crown Court on Thursday, July 18.

In her victim personal statement read out in court, the victim said the incident had had a “huge” impact on her health and that she would now no longer leave her home alone.

She said: “I have been so stressed. I cannot remember the male’s face which taunts me every day. I am constantly looking over my shoulder, worried that he is near. My mental health has declined since the incident, and I can no longer see a future.

“I cannot forgive the male that I now know to be Cory Farrar for this. He has taken so much from me./“I pray every night for justice, not just for me but for my family. They are so worried about me and I feel that I am a burden to them as I cannot go about my daily life without them.

“I just want my life back. I want to be the person I was before 31 December 2022. I haven’t bounced back and I want nothing more than to not cry daily and return to some type of normality.”

​DC Redine Carter, the investigating officer, said: “This incident has had an enormous impact on the victim and her family and I’m glad that we have been able to secure justice for her in court.

“She has spoken incredibly bravely about the effect this incident has had on her life over the last 19 months and I hope this prison sentence will allow her to return to some sort of normality.”