A notorious burglar who received a record prison sentence in 1995 has been jailed for more than six years after attacking a police officer and another man with a crowbar in a secluded nature trail.

Keith Bramble, 52, snatched two smartphones and a handbag in three violent robberies near Parkland Walk, a jury heard at Wood Green Crown Court.

Bramble pounced on Verity Nicholas, 30, in Cornwall Road, Stroud Green, on November 30 and punched her in the back as he wrenched her handbag from her grasp, the jury were told.

She screamed for help and her partner Neil Schofield pursued her attacker, enlisting the help of an off-duty police officer.

They chased Bramble to Parkland Walk nature trail, where he attacked them with a “rusty brown pole” and threatened to kill them, the prosecution said.

Prosecutor Nana Owusuh said Bramble sat on the officer’s chest and hit him repeatedly with a crowbar, causing cuts and swelling to his forehead.

Bramble fled after Mr Schofield, 37, kicked him in the head. The two men were taken to hospital and treated for their injuries.

Just 15 minutes later Bramble struck again in Evershot Road, Stroud Green, snatching bags and mobile phones from two women.

He escaped but officers traced the stolen iPhone to a nearby barber’s shop, where they recovered the phone and seized CCTV footage of Bramble exchanging the victim’s mobile for cash, jurors were told.

Bramble, of Carlton Road, Stroud Green, was found guilty of three counts of robbery, possessing an offensive weapon and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm.

He was sentenced to 81 months in prison last Thursday (June 14).

The robber had previously been jailed in 1995 for a spate of burglaries in which he concealed his face with a highwayman’s mask and armed himself with crowbars, knives and screwdrivers while committing the crimes.

Haringey Borough Commander Sandra Looby said: “I am pleased that a violent offender has been brought to justice.”