'Coward' hit woman, 74, with bottle in robbery
Northumbria PoliceA "cowardly" robber who hit a 74-year-old woman on the head with a wine bottle while trying to steal her handbag has been jailed for seven years.
Victoria Pedersen, 38, also kicked the woman's walking stick away so she could not give chase after the robber and an accomplice targeted the victim in her assisted-living home, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The woman, who had mobility and health issues, said she now felt her age and feared being attacked again.
Pedersen, who had more than 130 offences on her criminal record, admitted robbery and perverting the course of justice, having given police her sister's name when she was arrested.
The woman, who had previously given Pedersen £10 to "get rid of her" when she was begging for money, was at her home in North Tyneside when she got an alert that someone was at the door at about 17:30 GMT on 23 January 2024, prosecutor Rachael Glover said.
Believing it was her son, the woman pressed a button on a cord around her neck to open the door remotely, but was shocked to see Pedersen and another woman walking in, the court heard.
Pedersen, of Ripley Avenue in North Shields, offered to sell the woman stolen bottles of Prosecco and a watch but the woman refused and told her to get out, the court heard.
'Wicked and cowardly'
Pedersen started crying saying she needed money for "medication", with the woman eventually offering her £10 to make her leave, Glover said.
Seeing her purse, Pedersen said "what have you got there" and then struck her on the head with one of the wine bottles, the court heard.
Pedersen's accomplice then stole the handbag, which contained £400 in cash, the woman's wedding and engagement rings and heart medication, Glover said.
When the woman "extremely bravely" tried to get up to follow them, Pedersen kicked her walking stick away from under her, the court heard.
In a statement read to the court, the woman said she had "physically gone down hill" since the robbery and lived in fear of being attacked again.
"I never used to feel my age but now I do," the woman said.
The following day, Pedersen was arrested for suspected shoplifting but gave police her sister's name and details, the court heard, which resulted in officers wasting time and could have led to an innocent woman being arrested.
Judge Thomas Moran said the robbery of a woman Pedersen knew to be "elderly and infirm" was a "particularly wicked and cowardly offence".