'Taking handbags from old ladies is pretty low'

A GRANDFATHER stole a car and used it to ferry himself around a southeast Queensland suburb, stopping to steal handbags and smokes before going to the pub.

Craig William Mundy's six-hour crime spree in Ipswich happened on December 11 and on Monday he faced a court to answer for his methamphetamine-driven crimes.

The 51-year-old granddad pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to a raft of offences including multiple charges of stealing and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

The court heard Mundy used the stolen car to visit various locations where he stole smokes and tobacco before nicking a woman's handbag from a cafe and another woman's handbag from a car park.

One of the women was elderly.

Cops eventually tracked the vehicle to a pub at Booval - inside they found Mundy having a drink and carrying a small amount of the drug ice on his person.

Mundy was charged and spent 116 days on remand in the lead-up to yesterday's brief stint before Judge Julie Dick.

He copped a 12-month jail term with immediate parole, but did not leave the court without a word of warning from Judge Dick.

"Some of the offences were nasty - taking handbags from old ladies is pretty low," she said.

"Your health problems would be reason not to use methamphetamine, I would have thought.

"Your history and this behaviour speaks to your drug use - I am told you have a had a problem with it for 20-odd years.

"I hope prison has been a learning experience for you." - NewsRegional