Horrifying moment 'cowardly' thug hurls old lady to the ground and rips off her necklace in daylight robbery

Eleanor Rose12 June 2017
WEST END FINAL

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This is the horrifying moment a “cowardly” thug hurled an old lady to the ground and tore off her necklace during a violent robbery in south London.

The elderly victim suffered a dislocated shoulder during the daylight attack in Crystal Palace which was captured on CCTV.

Detectives today released the footage in a bid to identify the man.

The clip shows the woman walking slowly while pulling her shopping trolley close to the Royal Albert pub, in Westow Street.

'Cowardly' attack: Police have released CCTV footage of the suspect
Met Police

Her attacker appears to lunge at her from a secluded area of the path, knocking her to the ground during the incident which happened at around 12.20pm on September 30 last year.

The man, described as a white or Asian male aged between 25 and 35, fled leaving his victim injured on the floor.

He was said to have been wearing a blue jacket, red shorts with a distinctive white strip at the side, white socks and flips flop when he struck.

A Good Samaritan rushed to the woman’s aid and called the police before the victim realised her necklace was missing.

PC Andrew Garland, of Croydon police, said: “This was a cowardly attack on an elderly lady that left her frightened and in enormous pain. We are asking the public to help us find this man so we can bring him to justice.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or by tweeting at @MetCC. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.

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