Kindness is repaid with cruel attack

A GOOD Samaritan has stopped helping rough sleepers, after a homeless criminal tried to snatch her rucksack in Plymouth.

The woman asked 42-year-old Shane Dugdale if he was all right as he sat bleeding in a city centre street, a court heard.

The drug user repaid her kindness by grabbing her bag and then chasing her to a taxi, after she managed to escape. The woman told Plymouth Crown Court that she would no longer stop to offer food or a hot drink to rough sleepers.

Jailing Dugdale for three years, Judge William Mousley said the victim was “previously an independent woman. As a result of the attack, she has had to increase the medication she is prescribed.”

Dugdale, of no fixed address, had previously denied attempted robbery on November 12 last year, but he changed his plea at a hearing ahead of his trial.

Francesca Whebell, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the victim stopped to help Dugdale at the junction of New George Street and Market Avenue at about 7.30pm. She added that he was bleeding from his nose.

Miss Whebell said the woman touched his shoulder and asked whether he was all right but he had his eyes closed and did not respond. She added: “He opened his eyes and said ‘give me that bag’ and grabbed her backpack.”

The barrister said that there was a struggle between them. Another woman came to help and the pair managed to grab the rucksack before running away.

They ran to a taxi in Raleigh Street and were driven straight to Charles Cross police station. Dugdale gave chase and hit the back of the taxi, which was not damaged.

The court heard that Dugdale had committed 72 offences since 1994, including assaults and thefts. The judge, summarising probation reports, said Dugdale had been a long-term drug user who had struggled to find settled accommodation.