ianstone
08-19-2010, 04:21 PM
Woman, 80, died after cyclist mugged her for handbag on way home from bingo
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/19/article-1304443-0AD8FDE6000005DC-267_233x265.jpg Mary Porter who 'went into decline' and died as a direct result of the attack
An 80-year-old grandmother died after she was mugged for her £30 bingo winnings by a cyclist as she walked along a street.
Mary Porter, a retired Post office clerk, had spent the afternoon playing bingo with friends and was returning home.
As it was raining, she was carrying a walking stick in her right hand and an umbrella in her left with her handbag over her left shoulder.
She was just yards from her front door when a cyclist raced past and grabbed her handbag, sending her sprawling to the floor.
The thug raced off on his bike leaving the elderly woman lying helpless on the ground with serious injuries.
Mrs Porter was rushed to hospital suffering from a fractured arm, several fractured ribs and a collapsed lung.
She was treated in hospital but because of her frailty and her dreadful injuries her condition began to deteriorate.
The grandmother developed bronchial pneumonia and seven weeks after the attack she suffered a heart attack. Just days later she died.
More...
Killed for £40 and his OAP bus pass: Agonising death of Eisenhower's driver, 90, attacked on his own doorstep by 'despicable' mugger (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1304155/Eisenhowers-driver-Geoffrey-Bacon-killed-mugger-OAP-bus-pass-40.html)
Police launched a manslaughter inquiry and released a CCTV photo of the attacker on his bike just moments after he had struck.
Speaking after the inquest this week, her daughter Shelagh Orrell, 47, from Farnworth, Bolton branded her mother’s attacker 'scum'.
She said: 'People who do something like this are lowlife. They are scum of the earth. They don’t think of the dreadful outcome of their actions.'
'Mum had won around £30 from the bingo that afternoon. I can't believe they would attack an old lady for that and steal her bag and then leave her on the floor'
'There are people around who have no respect for the elderly. They are heartless and sick. This mugger took my mother from us and we are desperate for him to be caught.'
No arrests were made but now, two years later, police have renewed their appeal for information to help catch the mugger - who could face a manslaughter charge.
Detective Inspector Andy Richardson, said: 'Mary was a fragile, elderly woman who was targeted by a spineless thief for the contents of her handbag.
'While he was left with the few pounds that were in her purse, Mary's family have been left devastated and two years on are still struggling to come to terms with her death.
'She was a much loved grandmother and mother who would not have died the way she did had she not been robbed and I am determined to get justice for her.'
He said: 'The offender has to live with the knowledge that she died as a result of the robbery and we are continuing to appeal for anyone with information about the person responsible to call police.'
Mrs Porter worked in the Post Office from the age of 15 until her retirement at 68 and doted on her grandchildren, Joshua, 20 and Shannon, 16.
The inquest in Bolton heard the former Post Office clerk had caught a bus to play bingo with her friends and was returning home at around 3.50pm in August 2008 when she was attacked as she approached her home.
She was treated at Royal Bolton Hospital for the fractured arm, ribs and a collapsed lung but developed bronchial pneumonia.
Dr Simon Stacey, who treated her, said: 'It was a slow and pretty tragic decline. Sadly, the fight had gone out of her, her confidence had gone.'
Peter Watson, assistant deputy coroner, said Mrs Porter as an independent, strong, socially active lady with many friends and described the attack on her as 'cowardly'.
He said: 'It is clear to me she was targeted because of her age. It was a completely cowardly attack upon an elderly lady.'
Recording a narrative verdict, he said: 'The deceased, who suffered from severe osteoporosis and ischemic heart disease, died from a chest infection which arose from multiple rib fractures and a fracture of her left arm. These injuries occurred when she was subjected to a robbery by an unknown third party.'
Yesterday the Daily Mail highlighted the case of war veteran Geoffrey Bacon, 90, who was punched to the ground by a robber who then ransacked his home.
Mr Bacon, who drove Field Marshal Montgomery and General Eisenhower during World War II, suffered a shattered hip in the attack and had to undergo replacement surgery. He survived the operation but died three months later.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1304443/Woman-80-died-cyclist-mugged-her-handbag-way-home-bingo-trip.html#ixzz0x5KyP5PK
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/19/article-1304443-0AD8FDE6000005DC-267_233x265.jpg Mary Porter who 'went into decline' and died as a direct result of the attack
An 80-year-old grandmother died after she was mugged for her £30 bingo winnings by a cyclist as she walked along a street.
Mary Porter, a retired Post office clerk, had spent the afternoon playing bingo with friends and was returning home.
As it was raining, she was carrying a walking stick in her right hand and an umbrella in her left with her handbag over her left shoulder.
She was just yards from her front door when a cyclist raced past and grabbed her handbag, sending her sprawling to the floor.
The thug raced off on his bike leaving the elderly woman lying helpless on the ground with serious injuries.
Mrs Porter was rushed to hospital suffering from a fractured arm, several fractured ribs and a collapsed lung.
She was treated in hospital but because of her frailty and her dreadful injuries her condition began to deteriorate.
The grandmother developed bronchial pneumonia and seven weeks after the attack she suffered a heart attack. Just days later she died.
More...
Killed for £40 and his OAP bus pass: Agonising death of Eisenhower's driver, 90, attacked on his own doorstep by 'despicable' mugger (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1304155/Eisenhowers-driver-Geoffrey-Bacon-killed-mugger-OAP-bus-pass-40.html)
Police launched a manslaughter inquiry and released a CCTV photo of the attacker on his bike just moments after he had struck.
Speaking after the inquest this week, her daughter Shelagh Orrell, 47, from Farnworth, Bolton branded her mother’s attacker 'scum'.
She said: 'People who do something like this are lowlife. They are scum of the earth. They don’t think of the dreadful outcome of their actions.'
'Mum had won around £30 from the bingo that afternoon. I can't believe they would attack an old lady for that and steal her bag and then leave her on the floor'
'There are people around who have no respect for the elderly. They are heartless and sick. This mugger took my mother from us and we are desperate for him to be caught.'
No arrests were made but now, two years later, police have renewed their appeal for information to help catch the mugger - who could face a manslaughter charge.
Detective Inspector Andy Richardson, said: 'Mary was a fragile, elderly woman who was targeted by a spineless thief for the contents of her handbag.
'While he was left with the few pounds that were in her purse, Mary's family have been left devastated and two years on are still struggling to come to terms with her death.
'She was a much loved grandmother and mother who would not have died the way she did had she not been robbed and I am determined to get justice for her.'
He said: 'The offender has to live with the knowledge that she died as a result of the robbery and we are continuing to appeal for anyone with information about the person responsible to call police.'
Mrs Porter worked in the Post Office from the age of 15 until her retirement at 68 and doted on her grandchildren, Joshua, 20 and Shannon, 16.
The inquest in Bolton heard the former Post Office clerk had caught a bus to play bingo with her friends and was returning home at around 3.50pm in August 2008 when she was attacked as she approached her home.
She was treated at Royal Bolton Hospital for the fractured arm, ribs and a collapsed lung but developed bronchial pneumonia.
Dr Simon Stacey, who treated her, said: 'It was a slow and pretty tragic decline. Sadly, the fight had gone out of her, her confidence had gone.'
Peter Watson, assistant deputy coroner, said Mrs Porter as an independent, strong, socially active lady with many friends and described the attack on her as 'cowardly'.
He said: 'It is clear to me she was targeted because of her age. It was a completely cowardly attack upon an elderly lady.'
Recording a narrative verdict, he said: 'The deceased, who suffered from severe osteoporosis and ischemic heart disease, died from a chest infection which arose from multiple rib fractures and a fracture of her left arm. These injuries occurred when she was subjected to a robbery by an unknown third party.'
Yesterday the Daily Mail highlighted the case of war veteran Geoffrey Bacon, 90, who was punched to the ground by a robber who then ransacked his home.
Mr Bacon, who drove Field Marshal Montgomery and General Eisenhower during World War II, suffered a shattered hip in the attack and had to undergo replacement surgery. He survived the operation but died three months later.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1304443/Woman-80-died-cyclist-mugged-her-handbag-way-home-bingo-trip.html#ixzz0x5KyP5PK