John
07-31-2009, 10:56 AM
Jill Smith produced such a good image of Lloyd Talbot that police caught him just two days later.
The drug addict sntached the 71-year-old's handbag last September as she was putting her shopping in her car outside B&Q in Gateshead.
But Talbot did not count on the pensioner committing his face to memory and being able to draw it in great detail.
Police were so impressed, they circulated the drawing to officers, and one recognised the suspect.
Gateshead Magistrates Court ordered him to pay £60 compensation to Ms Smith and enrol in a drug rehabilitation scheme.
Talbot has already spent time in prison after being caught on CCTV raiding Poppy Appeal tins.
After the case, Ms Smith, from Derwentside, said: "I didn't see it coming and he was gone very fast.
"He never got off his bike so I just had time to shout, 'hey!' before he disappeared through a gap in the hedge.
"I got a really good look at him as he looked back at me as he rode off.
"The police arrived soon after and the officer asked if I could describe him at all.
"I told her if I had paper and pen, I could draw him no problem and she promptly gave me her notebook.
"I have done a lot of portraits of people and it was easier to draw him than give a verbal description of what he looked like."
Having worked in a prison for 18 years teaching inmates to draw Ms Smith is used to assessing people's appearance in seconds.
She explained that Talbot's forehead and nose, his high cheekbones and receding hairline became easily etched in her mind.
Ms Smith said: "The hardest parts of portraits are the obvious ones - the eyes and the mouth.
"My friends and family say it's typical of me to have helped catch a thief by using my sketches."
The drug addict sntached the 71-year-old's handbag last September as she was putting her shopping in her car outside B&Q in Gateshead.
But Talbot did not count on the pensioner committing his face to memory and being able to draw it in great detail.
Police were so impressed, they circulated the drawing to officers, and one recognised the suspect.
Gateshead Magistrates Court ordered him to pay £60 compensation to Ms Smith and enrol in a drug rehabilitation scheme.
Talbot has already spent time in prison after being caught on CCTV raiding Poppy Appeal tins.
After the case, Ms Smith, from Derwentside, said: "I didn't see it coming and he was gone very fast.
"He never got off his bike so I just had time to shout, 'hey!' before he disappeared through a gap in the hedge.
"I got a really good look at him as he looked back at me as he rode off.
"The police arrived soon after and the officer asked if I could describe him at all.
"I told her if I had paper and pen, I could draw him no problem and she promptly gave me her notebook.
"I have done a lot of portraits of people and it was easier to draw him than give a verbal description of what he looked like."
Having worked in a prison for 18 years teaching inmates to draw Ms Smith is used to assessing people's appearance in seconds.
She explained that Talbot's forehead and nose, his high cheekbones and receding hairline became easily etched in her mind.
Ms Smith said: "The hardest parts of portraits are the obvious ones - the eyes and the mouth.
"My friends and family say it's typical of me to have helped catch a thief by using my sketches."