THIEF Stephen Gillespie “bit off more than he could chew” when he snatched a wallet from 101-year-old war veteran Kazimierz Michalski, a judge said.

The pensioner told Oxford Crown Court how he held the 47-year-old thief in a bear-hug and watched him turn red and gasp for breath after Gillespie stole £300 in a wallet from his inside jacket pocket.

Mr Michalski glared across the courtroom and branded Gillespie a “weakling” as the thief was jailed for three years for theft yesterday.

Gillespie, of Goose Green Close, Wolvercote, admitted befriending Mr Michalski after a church service at Blackfriars Priory, in St Giles, on March 8.

He then travelled by bus to the pensioner’s Summertown home and offered to fix a leaky roof.

Sam Mainds, prosecuting, said Gillespie lunged forward and stole a wallet containing cash, which he later spent on drugs.

The Polish war veteran, who used to work as a chief librarian at The Bodleian Library, suffered cuts to his cheek and chin in the struggle.

Mr Michalski said: “I put my arms around him. His eyes were wide, his face was red and he was short of breath.

“I didn’t want to suffocate him. He was a weakling in comparison to me. I could box him and do anything I wanted to him.”

Gillespie, who was on early release from prison for burglary when he committed the theft, was arrested two weeks later after he was traced by a fingerprint left at the scene.

He admitted theft but denied robbery.

Speaking after sentencing, Mr Michalski said: “I hope this is a lesson to him and a warning to others. He is a pickpocket and a weakling.”

Jennifer Edwards, defending, said Gillespie had been a crack and heroin addict, but was now clean.

He has a string of convictions for theft, knifepoint robbery, burglary and dealing drugs.

Recorder Mark Ockelton told Gillespie: “You had bitten off more than you could chew, because when he realised what had happened he got hold of you... and immobilised you for a while.”

mwilkinson@oxfordmail.co.uk