MUM TELLS OF BRUTAL MUGGING IN TOWN CENTRE
A MUM was brutally mugged in front of her five-year-old son in Nuneaton.
Syan Eilish Hopkins is hoping that witnesses will come forward after a man followed her through town before punching her in the face and stealing her bag.
Fortunately she wasn’t badly injured.
The 24-year-old mum of two was walking through town at around 8pm on Thursday when she noticed a man sitting on a bench.
She has now been told that CCTV footage seems to show the man following her through the town before the attack.
Miss Hopkins said: “I was walking up the road with my son, I had spotted a man on the bench as I walked past the newsagents on Upper Abbey Street.
“I carried on walking, it turned out he was following me, they have CCTV footage. “He must have got in front of me at some point, I smiled as I went to walk by then just as I got by him he grabbed my bag. “I tried to stop him by putting up my arm but he punched me in the face. “I looked at my son and I could see how scared he was so I just decided to leave. “I was terrified and upset.” After the attack, Miss Hopkins went home with her son and called the police. Later that night, at around 11pm, she went out to look for her bag with a friend.
She found her bank and most of its contents, including her bank cards, strewn behind some bins behind the High Street, except bizarrely a pair of Miss Hopkins’ daughter’s baby reins.
Her purse has not been found and Miss Hopkins is most concerned about her passport that was inside her purse and is the only ID she has.
After the mugging, Miss Hopkins no longer feels safe being alone in the town. She added: “I don’t feel safe. When we were walking home that night, me and my son were talking about safety and I turned round to him and said it doesn’t matter if I’m not safe as long as he is. The man must have heard that, he heard that and he still did what he did.
“From now on if I am going out late at night I am not going to go on my own.”
Miss Hopkins attacker has been described as white, around 5ft 6in tall, wearing a black Parka coat with a white fur trim and black trainers with white on the bottom.
“I would really appreciate it if anyone who saw anything would come forward for my son,” said Miss Hopkins.
“He needs to know that he is safe, he keeps asking me if the bad man is still out there.”
Investigations are ongoing and anyone with any information should call 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
I looked at my son and I could see how scared he was.. I was terrified and upset. Syan Eilish Hopkins