| The 75-year-old, who is partially sighted and uses a walking stick, was robbed of more than £500 yesterday morning by a female assailant as she made her way home from the post office in Strathmartine Road.
One Hill Street resident told the Tele the victim is “a well known face” in the area and that she believed the robbery was planned.
She said, “Everybody knows her, so someone’s been watching her. It’s terrible, as some people are just not capable of looking after themselves.”
Ashley Hutton, cashier of the post office where the victim withdrew her money, said she also thought it was possible the elderly woman had been deliberately targeted.
She said, “She speaks to everybody, so it might be the case.
“I drove past her on my way to work, so it must have happened just seconds afterwards.”
Ms Hutton said other elderly customers had spoken to her of their concerns in the wake of the robbery.
She said, “A few of them have been worried. We always tell them to be careful and to put their money away before they go back outside.”
Another local elderly woman said the robbery had left her “very scared”.
She said, “It’s usually very quiet here, so this is terrible.
“It does make you scared, but at the same time you’ve got to get on with your life — you can’t stay in all the time. I certainly wouldn’t go out here at night though.”
The robbery took place around 9am near Hill Street’s junction with Bruce Street.
The culprit approached the woman before snatching her brown, clutch-style woollen purse and making off down nearby Reid Street.
Police said the elderly victim had not been physically injured in the robbery, but that she was “visibly shaken and distressed”.
* This afternoon a Tayside Police spokeswoman said they were following a “positive line of inquiry” in relation to the mugging. |
