Lost overseas student mugged

TWO women have been jailed for mugging a Brazilian student on her first day here.

Lesley Ward, 40, and Vicky Osborne stole the undergraduate’s phone, laptop and cash as she sought help, a court heard.

The victim had left her country for the first time when she got to Middlesbrough, trying to find Teesside University.

Sam Faulks, prosecuting, told Durham crown court: “She didn’t know where she was and clearly, being in a foreign country for the first time, was quite frightened.”

Ward pressed something into her side, told her to be quiet, then the pair raided her backpack. A security guard saw the August attack on CCTV and ran to help the student.

Osborne, 39, pleaded guilty and was jailed for three years, nine months. Ward, also of Middlesbrough, was found guilty of the offence plus others and got nine years.