Pregnant Nigerian woman brutally attacked and robbed after going into labour in London
Police today, August 24th, released an e-fit of mugger who attacked
a Nigerian woman while she was in labour. The suspect punched her in
the face and stole her phone as she tried to call her family.
On June 26th, Patience Chukwu, 40, had left her home in north London to take a bus
to hospital and was having contractions when the man swiped her Samsung
Galaxy from her hands.
"I took out my phone to call my sister and tell her I
was on the way to the hospital when the boy came up to me. He stood in
front of me and I thought he was about to ask for
directions. He was standing there staring at me and then he snatched the
phone from me. As he grabbed it, I grabbed him by the hood. I was
trying to recover
the phone. He just hit me. He went to hit me in the stomach, so I bent
double and the blow hit me in the face."
The attacker got on his BMX to flee but Ms Chukwu grabbed him. "He was dragging me and I was screaming," she said.
"Then he hit me for a third time and I went blind for a short time. So I let go and he was gone.
"It was horrifying. I sat there afterwards shaking and shivering"
Ms Chukwu was initially treated on the street by police after the
assault, which took place on a Sunday at about 10am in Leadale Road,
Stamford Hill. She was taken to Homerton hospital, where medics took her into
theatre for a Caesarean section after being unable to detect her child’s
heartbeat.
Her son, Kamsi Kishi, was born hours later with complications. He
suffers from seizures, which police today said are a result of the attack.
Ms Chukwu was not able to visit her child, now eight weeks old, until
the next morning and could not take him home for a week while doctors
kept him under observation.
Police have now released an e-fit of the suspect. Investigating
officer Detective Inspector Paul Ridley admitted:
"The
e-fit is our last
line of enquiry. We’ve exhausted everything else. We’re appealing for
information from friends, relatives and even criminal associates. Given
the nature of the act, I’m sure a lot of criminals would have been
shocked. We have a woman on the brink of giving birth subjected to an
attack like that in broad daylight just for her mobile phone."
The suspect is described as a thin black man aged between 18 and 21
with short dark hair. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a green
hooded jumper. Ms Chukwu, who also has a four-year-old daughter, Kika, said:
"I
didn’t expect that a heavily pregnant woman in labour would be robbed.
My belly would have been huge. As he was robbing me I was begging him, ‘Please, I’m in labour, please’.
"That boy is wicked and I want them to catch him before he attacks someone else."
Ms Chukwu also thanked members of the Jewish neighbourhood
watch group Shomrim who rushed to her aid following the ordeal. Pinchas
Paksher, who was first on the scene to help the woman shortly after the
attack, said:
"The thief was heartless,
targeting the most vulnerable in society, the victim was on the phone
seeking help to arrange transport to hospital when her phone was
snatched. I urge anyone with information to call police or Crimestopper"
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