Tough justice as hero cage fighter thwarts mugging of gran, 83
A MUGGER who snatched a frail 83-year-old grandmother’s handbag got a taste of instant justice after his cowardly crime was witnessed by a cage-fighting champion.
Muscular Macauley Peckitt, 22, sprinted after Mark Groves, hauled him to the ground and put him in a choke hold.
The thief was held for five minutes until police arrived and Groves, 45, was handed over to officers.
The electromechanical engineer – a mixed martial arts expert who won a title bout a week later – was praised as “public spirited” by the judge who jailed Groves.
The victim had been on her way to visit her sister in Guisborough, North Yorks, when she felt “her bag flying off her arm”, Teesside Crown Court heard last week.
Rebecca Brown, prosecuting, said the woman gripped metal railings to steady herself and saw Groves disappear around the corner on February 4.
Mr Peckitt said that he and his girlfriend were walking their dog when they heard cries for help.
He said: “We’d only walked about 10 metres when I heard the woman wailing and shouting.
Fearful
“I chased the man, ran up behind him, booted him and he fell to the floor, then I put him in a choke hold.
“I had no idea if he had a weapon so I told him I’d put him to sleep if he went in his pockets.
“I held on to him for a good five minutes before police arrived.
“In the meantime my girlfriend was looking after the lady.”
Mr Peckitt added: “It was a good bit of extra training.”
Mr Peckitt, who trains at Middlesbrough Jiu Jitsu and Vale Tudo Club, became an MMA Total Combat champion the following week.
The elderly victim later said the “terrible experience” had left her feeling “useless”. She was not injured but has felt fearful since the robbery.
The court heard she had become nervous about leaving her home, did not like to use public transport and was taking medication for anxiety.
Groves, of Skelton, North Yorks, was heard saying “I’m sorry” at the scene, claiming that he had fallen, become entangled with the woman’s bag and panicked.
But he admitted robbery after Judge Simon Hickey expressed scepticism about his “bizarre” story about an accident.
Jailing Groves for 27 months, Judge Hickey told him: “You took her bag in a classic bag snatch.
John Nixon, defending, said: “This was not a classic case of targeting. It was a case of opportunity.”
He said Groves – who had been out of trouble for 10 years – had tackled heroin addiction but become hooked on prescribed opiate painkillers.
Groves had robbed the woman in a “very low emotional state”, he added.
After hearing Groves had been jailed, Mr Peckitt said: “I hope what happened has taught him a lesson.”