DRUNKEN Arran Denzey removed a handbag from behind the bar of March United Services Club and threw it into a hedge on Saturday. But club stewards had seen him take the bag, and they got him to show where it had been abandoned, Fenland magistrates were tol

DRUNKEN Arran Denzey removed a handbag from behind the bar of March United Services Club and threw it into a hedge on Saturday.

But club stewards had seen him take the bag, and they got him to show where it had been abandoned, Fenland magistrates were told on Wednesday.

But it turned out that Denzey had made a mistake over the bag's ownership. It did not belong to the person he thought, his solicitor John Clarke told the court.

Denzey, 29, of Norwood Road, March, admitted committing a theft at the club on Saturday, stealing a brown handbag containing a purse and car keys.

"The owner of the bag was working as a barmaid and left her bag in the bar area between two rooms," said prosecutor April Plant. "The defendant was in the function room. He went behind the bar and took the bag." The purse and car keys were not recovered, she said.

Mr Clarke told how Denzey had a grievance against a man called Stu earlier that evening, and his judgement was clouded by alcohol.

"He decided to get his own back on Stu," he said. "He decided to take Stu's wife's bag as a prank and throw it away. He grabbed the bag and threw it away in the bushes."

As he walked off into March he was approached by club stewards, and he showed them where he had thrown the bag.

"The victim was not Stu's wife. He got the wrong person," added Mr Clarke. "This was a prank, not a professional burglary."

The court ordered a pre-sentence report and adjourned the case until September 6.