A great-granny has been hailed a hero after fighting off two muggers by pinning one against a wall – by his LAPELS.
Brave Marion Walter, 77, grabbed the thief as he tried to swipe her purse from the back seat of her car outside a Waitrose store.
She pinned him against the wall and demanded he return the wallet – and the cowardly thug handed it back and fled.
Marion, from Droitwich, Worcs., said: ”It was not bravery, it was just instinct.
”He had my purse. If I had thought it through properly, he could have had a knife.”
Marion is a retired medical secretary and is married to John, 79, a retired printer.
The mother-of-two has four grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Marion, who suffers from osteoarthritis, Marion had just finished shopping at Waitrose in Droitwich with her 90-year-old sister Doris Smith at 11.50am on August 16 when she was approached by two Eastern European men in the car park.
She said: ”As we got into the car I put my purse behind my seat.
”I saw two men gesticulating at the back of my car so got out to ask them what they wanted.
”It was then that I noticed one of the men crouching down and take my purse.
”I was moving and he had to get up, so I caught him.
”I got him pinned against the wall and had him by the lapels. He didn’t offer any resistance.
”He kept saying ‘everything is ‘alright’ but I was so angry I told him ‘it’s not alright’ and wanted to know if he had taken anything else.
”He gave me back my purse and I let him go and he ran away.”
In the last six months dozens of elderly shoppers in Worcestershire have ben robbed after leaving supermarkets.
Marion added: ”I think we were targeted. I’m no spring chicken.
”They were behind us in the queue for the check-out.
”I had quite a lot and he only had a light bulb. I nearly pointed out there was a ’10 items or less’ till, but I thought don’t be a busy body.”
A spokesman for West Mercia Police praised Marion’s ‘brave actions’.
He added: ”These cynical and calculating criminals rely on the goodwill of their elderly victims being prepared to help a stranger find their way only for them to callously cause them great personal distress by distracting them and taking cash, cards and personal belongings.”
The robber had black hair and wore glasses and a grey business suit and shiny black shoes.