Robber guilty of manslaughter
Teen ‘killed’ woman who died of heart attack days after assault
ATEENAGE robber has been convicted of manslaughter after a pensioner died of a heart attack ten days after a violent bag snatch.
The 16-year-old was part of a team of thieves who looked for vulnerable people to rob, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
Victim Brenda Morton, 73, was treated for a fractured arm following the Hall Green attack, which was captured on CCTV, but was rushed back to hospital more than a week later and died.
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of manslaughter after a trial.
He was also convicted of attempted robbery and robbery but was cleared of another robbery charge.
Sentence was adjourned until September 4 for a report to be prepared.
After the verdicts were returned, Ms Morton’s daughter, Joanna, said she had been “fit and able” before the attack and had been snatched
away from her family “too soon”.
Adrian Keeling QC, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution case is that this defendant is a robber, a robber who quite deliberately targets ladies walking by themselves.
“The ladies are late to middle age or elderly and to some extent, you may think, vulnerable.”
Mr Keeling said the 16-year-old and an accomplice in a car struck three times in two hours on the afternoon of February 5.
He said handbags were grabbed “with a degree of force”.
Mr Keeling said the pair drove around the area “trying to find appropriate victims”. The driver dropped the defendant off and waited for him while he carried out offences.
They first struck just after 1.30pm in Petersfield Road, Hall Green, with the teenager snatching a bag from a woman who needed hospital treatment for her injuries.
Ms Morton was targeted around an hour later as she walked in the same road with a handbag over her left shoulder.
Mr Keeling said: “She was approached by the defendant who tried to grab it from her. For better or worse she tried to fight back and clasped the bag to her.
“It was really quite a violent and nasty struggle and she was dragged to the ground.
“She shouted for help and other people nearby went to her aid and the defendant fled.”
She was taken to hospital, treated for a fractured arm and sent home.
Ten days later, she was taken to hospital again after complaining of feeling unwell, but suffered a heart attack and died.
Mr Keeling said the fracture she suffered during the incident played a significant role in her death.
Clothes found at the defendant’s home when he was arrested linked him to the attacks and there was evidence connecting him to a car.
Following the verdicts, Joanna Morton, the victim’s daughter, said: “We would like to thank the police for all their hard work and feel justice has been done for my mum.
“She was walking in a road where we had all grown up in. She was fit and able and we feel she has been taken away from us too soon. We are still in shock.”