Great-gran fights off mugger to save snaps of late husband

Published on Wednesday 6 May 2009 10:20

A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER has told how she fought off a knife-wielding bag-snatcher to save photographs of her late husband.

Georgina Henderson, 66, said she was terrified when Susan Taylor, 28, threatened her in broad daylight in Leith, but refused to let go of her bag.

She was knocked to the ground in the struggle before a group of people came to her aid.

Two men chased her attacker down the street, managing to catch Taylor briefly before she broke free and escaped.

She was later identified from CCTV footage and arrested.

Following the attack, Mrs Henderson says she is frightened to go out on her own and still has flashbacks of the incident. She said it would be a long time before she regained her confidence.

Taylor, a prisoner in Cornton Vale, yesterday pled guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to assaulting Mrs Henderson with intent to rob in Bathfield, Newhaven, on 4 April.

Mrs Henderson said she was walking back from her local Spar store at about 2:30pm. Although she usually uses a walking stick, she had left it behind as it was only a short walk.

She said: "I'd just gone to pick up a couple of messages.

"She grabbed for my bag. I just refused to let go.

"I lost my husband George just over a year ago, and the photos are irreplaceable. I wouldn't part with them. That's what ran through my mind. She wasn't getting them.

"It was just a matter of a couple of minutes. I don't know what would've happened if there hadn't been six or seven young people who came and helped. Two chaps ran after her, and a young girl helped me up."

Although Mrs Henderson was not seriously injured, she was badly shaken by the attack. But she said her family, including six grandchildren and one great-grandchild, had been "brilliant", as well as her friends and neighbours.

She said: "It certainly knocked me for six. I do go out alone, but it's knocked my confidence. I can't sleep. Every so often it comes back to me. It'll take me a long time.

"I feel very angry about it, and that's helped me keep going. She'll pay for what she's done. If she had just asked me for money, I would've given it to her."

Fiscal Depute John Kirk told Sheriff Derrick McIntyre in court yesterday that Taylor had threatened Mrs Henderson with a Stanley knife.

He said: "She was not particularly worried about her shopping, but for photographs of her late husband.

"Clearly this was a particularly distressing set of circumstances for the complainer."

He said Taylor was later identified through descriptions and CCTV footage. In a search of Taylor's home, police found the top she had been wearing and the knife.

Taylor was on probation at the time. Sheriff McIntyre deferred sentence for background reports and remanded Taylor in custody.