Police appeal for witnesses after woman, 55, is robbed in Tamworth

Jul 21 2009 by Justine Halifax, Birmingham Mail

DETECTIVES were today hunting a thug who pushed a woman to the ground and robbed her.

The 55-year-old victim was grabbed as she walked home along a footpath linking Caledonian and Bancroft in Glascote, Tamworth, and pushed to the floor.

She struggled with the thief before he ran off with her handbag.

Police said the woman was “badly shocked”. She suffered bruising and was treated at the scene by paramedics.

Homes border the path and police carried out house-to-house investigations in an attempt to trace witnesses.

Officers said a man on a bike who rode past the woman seconds before the attack, just after 10pm last Wednesday, may also be a vital witness and detectives urged him to come forward.

Det Con Julie Hines, of Tamworth CID, said: “We would appeal for this man to come forward as well as anyone else who may have seen anything suspicious in the Bancroft area.

“Fortunately, this lady was not seriously hurt although she was badly shocked.

“It beggars belief that someone would carry out this kind of assault on a person who was simply walking home.”

The offender is white and in his late teens or early 20s. He is about 5ft 11in and slim. He wore a dark hooded top, a scarf and wire rimmed glasses.