A DANGEROUS Dudley robber has been jailed for life after he viciously hit a terrified pregnant mother on the head with a claw hammer fracturing her skull as she tried to hand over her purse.

Drug addict Andrew Bate had been back on the streets for just 18 days after his release from an indeterminate prison sentence for another violent robbery when the incident happened, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Bate, who had 74 previous crimes on his record for violent and sexual offending, had already been described as posing a significant risk of causing future harm to members of the public and children.

The 49-year-old, who had also been assessed as being "unmanageable" in the community, was told by Judge Amjad Nawaz he must serve a minimum of 10 years behind bars for his latest crime spree.

And Bate was told he would only be released from custody again if the parole board deemed him safe.

Bate confronted the four-and-a-half month pregnant mother after she left the One-Stop shop in Buffery Road and demanded money to fuel his long-standing drug addiction.

The woman, who had her young daughter with her in a pushchair, shouted "my baby - I''m pregnant" and as she leant over for her purse when she was brutally hit with the hammer.

Charles Crinion, prosecuting, said the powerful blow left her with a dent the size of a ping pong ball in her skull but thankfully her unborn baby suffered no harm.

He told the court the mother had said in a victim impact statement that she had been paranoid since the incident, she was frightened to go out and she no longer had the courage to pick her son up from school.

Mr Crinion said a woman motorist, who was with her three children, saw the horrific incident as she drove past and after she stopped she was threatened by Bate with the hammer.

The court was told that Bate earlier that morning had tried to rob a 74 year old woman of her handbag in Dudley High Street but the plucky pensioner fought hard to hang onto the bag and when passers-by intervened Bate quickly fled the scene.

Mr Crinion said Bate was at large at the time because he had left the hostel where he was supposed to be living after his release from prison in breach of his sex offenders' order.

Bate, now of no fixed address, admitted robbery, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, attempted robbery, making a threat with the hammer and failing to notify the authorities of his whereabouts.

The judge told him it was clear the young mum continued to suffer in the aftermath of the attack and it would take her some considerable time to overcome what had happened.

He said Bate had many previous convictions involving violence and sexual offending and it was clear he represented a considerable risk to the public.

Nicholas Berry, defending Bate, said: "From the age of 13 there has been a spiral of self-destruction due to his use of illicit substances."

He said Bate had become increasingly institutionalised and there was little hope of him having a life outside the prison system.