4 Dec 2009

86-year-old injured in Christchurch mugging

9:42 pm on 4 December 2009

The police say they need the help of the public to catch a man who seriously hurt an 86-year-old woman in a mugging in Christchurch.

The woman was getting into her car at Barrington Mall carpark in the suburb of Spreydon after buying milk at about 9 o'clock on Thursday night when a man grabbed her handbag.

Hit from behind and thrown to the ground, she suffered cuts to her head as well as a broken pelvis.

Detective Sergeant Ross Tarawhiti says the attack was the lowest of the low - but the public can do something about it.

"Someone out there must know who this man is and we need their help to get him off the street," he says.

"People who are going about their business at this age don't need this sort of rubbish, mindless violence on an elderly woman. You can't get much lower than that."

Attacker fled down alleyway

The police say that both the woman and her husband are very traumatised by the attack, and she is expected to remain in hospital for several days.

The attacker, who fled down an alleyway leading to Sugden St, is

described as a tall, slim Maori in his 20s, clean-shaven with shoulder-length curly hair, and wearing a grey sweater and blue trousers or jeans.

The police would like to hear whether the woman's navy blue handbag has been found, and from anyone who has information about the attack.