Charles Claud Reid shook his head in Tamworth Local Court when Magistrate Michael Holmes handed down an 18-month sentence over the March 27 attack.

Reid pleaded guilty to stealing from a person and failing to appear at his first set court attendance date; he had also failed in his bid to get help for his drug offences.

Magistrate Holmes said jail was the only punishment available to the 25-year-old.

“It was an elderly gentleman withdrawing money,” he told the court.

“The gentleman was 79 years old.”

The court heard Reid was inside the Commonwealth Bank on Bridge St about 9.30am on March 27 when the victim withdrew money from a teller before remaining in the banking chamber to count it.

“At that you took advantage ... and took money from him,” Magistrate Holmes said.

Reid’s solicitor, Sarah Wilkin, said Reid had no memory of the incident.

“This was a matter that was a drug-induced crime,” she told the court.

Miss Wilkin said Reid had a “significant problem with drugs” and there was no planning involved in the incident.

“It’s an appalling set of facts,” she said, pointing to the aggravating features of the victim being an elderly man.

“It was an opportunistic crime.”

Magistrate Holmes further pointed to Reid’s extensive record and said there was a need for deterrence for “serious” offences such as this.

Reid was jailed for 18 months, with a nine-month non-parole period, with a nine-month sentence for failing to appear.

The 25-year-old will be eligible for parole in February next year.