Man steals blind woman's white stick

POLICE are hunting a man who robbed a blind woman of her white stick in Central Park at lunchtime today.

The 35-year-old victim - who is registered blind, but has partial sight - was walking through the park close to the pitch and putt at around 1.20pm when she became aware of a man standing in front of her.

She told police he asked her for change but she was unable to as she had no money in her purse.

She was grabbed by the man, spun around and pushed to the ground.

The robber then grabbed the empty small black synthetic purse and her white stick before fleeing, leaving her on path suffering a cut to her nose and injuries to her hand.

Despite her shock and painful the woman was able to call police on her mobile phone - which the man missed during the robbery - and called police.

Officers raced to the scene and began a search of the area while paramedics from South West Ambulance Service treated the woman’s injuries before taking her to Derriford Hospital for further treatment.

Investigators say the park was busy at the time of the incident and are convinced members of the public would have seen either the man and the woman at some stage. The incident occurred at lamp-post eight along the pathway by the pitch and putt.

The blind woman was only able to say the man was 5ft 10ins tall and wore a dark top.

A spokesman for Plymouth police said: “This woman is the innocent victim of an extremely serious and callous crime.

“We would like to think that nobody would prevent us making an arrest and taking this man to court.

“It’s hard to imagine a more mean-minded individual who would purposely rob a blind woman of her which stick which is presumably valueless to the criminal.

“His actions were not just to snatch her purse but to cause her physical harm by disorientating her and pushing her to the ground.

“Her injuries were so bad that she has been hospitalised as a result.

“People in the park may have seen the victim on the floor without realising the full circumstances or they may have found the discarded stick or purse in the area.

”We would urge people who used the park today to contact us with any piece of information they can, however seemingly insignificant.”

Anyone with information about the robbery or who has knowledge of the man should call police on 08452 777444 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference number ED/08/8876.