A WOMAN from Bordon was mugged just yards from her house as she walked home from the Forest Shopping Centre on Sunday afternoon. The woman, who is in her early 40s, and has three children and two grandchildren, had been shopping in Somerfield and was on her way home at around 3 pm when two young men approached her. They attempted to snatch her black leather shoulder bag as she crossed the grass next to the library in the direction of her house. Her daughter commented: "Mum is shaken up but okay. She felt they were opportunists, it was as if they saw her and decided to try their luck. "Mum wrestled with them for a while. She tried really hard to hold on to the bag because it had everything inside it; her house keys, debit cards and £320 cash in an envelope." After the struggle, both young men ran off towards Lidl with the bag, where it is thought they were caught on CCTV. The woman's daughters tried ringing her mobile phone to see if they could hear it and eventually it was found on the roof of the Forest Community Centre. The police scoured the grass and found the jackets both boys had been wearing and the bag with everything in it except for the money. The Hampshire Police's media and communications officer, Debbie Denis confirmed: "An area search was carried out and the handbag contents were found scattered nearby." The daughter said: "The police came almost instantly and were brilliant. Mum gave them a statement and they are now carrying out DNA checks on the jackets and the contents of the handbag. Luckily an independent witness saw everything and was able to give a good description of the attackers. I think it's all a bit of a blur for mum because she's still in a state of shock." The main offender is described as a white man aged between 18 and 25 years with a very short crew cut, dark hair and slim build and around 5 ft 9 ins. He was wearing a grey puffa jacket or anorak with three stripes on it. He was accompanied by a younger and smaller boy of around 10, with blond/red hair and was wearing a black shiny jacket. "Hopefully they will be able to catch them," the daughter said. "They weren't wearing gloves so their fingerprints should be all over everything. "I think they must be local, particularly as this happened on a Sunday when there is no public transport. If so, we must have a good chance of them being caught. "It's just so scary, particularly for older people. I've heard of several incidents happening outside Lidl. It must have been a drug issue for someone to steal at that time of day, in daylight with witnesses around and mum screaming. They must have really needed the money." Her mother's friend agreed. "I have never heard of anything like this in Bordon. Whoever did this was only interested in the money, they didn't take her phone which had credit on it. It had to be money for drugs." Her daughter continued: "The sad thing is that mum has only ever been out of the house twice before with that kind of cash on her. She was in the centre buying presents for her grandchildren and they didn't bother to take her shopping – she had a cooked roast chicken on her so they can't have been hungry! "It's awful, mum's had a really hard time lately and had stopped leaving the house, so for her to build up her confidence to go out again and for something like this to happen is terrible. In a way its worse that they got away with so much money because it may make them try and do something like this again." Police are urging people to be extra vigilant. Any witnesses with information about this incident should contact Pc John Winsor at Whitehill Police on 0845 045 45 45.
