Pensioner grabs evidence that helps catch thief

THE QUICK thinking of a Falmouth pensioner who was robbed in broad daylight helped police to catch her attacker.

Wendy Fearnley, 69, was on her way home from shopping when she was attacked in the churchyard of Falmouth Parish Church on February 1.

A shopping bag had been pulled over her head and her handbag stolen.

Even though Mrs Fearnley was terrified by the attack, she had the foresight to keep hold of the shopping bag.

Police were later able to obtain DNA evidence from it and link the frightening incident to the culprit.

The evidence led officers to 26-year-old Emma Bowhay, who has been jailed after appearing at Truro Crown Court.

The court heard that Mrs Fearnley had seen a young woman crouching by a wall in the churchyard. She thought it was simply a ruse by the stranger to avoid eye contact.

‘Tangoed’

But it was then that she had the shopping bag pulled over her head and was told by Bowhay: “I’m sorry love, you’ve been Tangoed.”

The phrase is a reference to a series of Tango soft drink television adverts involving harmless pranks.

But in this case the resulting incident was far from harmless and Mrs Fearnley was pulled to the ground and her handbag stolen. She suffered a bruised and sore knee.

The attack was witnessed by Joshua Insley, who gave chase. Bowhay dropped the handbag as she ran away.

In court, defence counsel Bathsheba Cassell claimed Bowhay had been put up to the robbery by another person who had beaten her for letting go of the handbag.

Bowhay, of Killigrew Street in Falmouth, has previous convictions from 2003 which mostly related to alcohol and substance abuse. She was jailed for 15 months for the attack on Mrs Fearnley after pleading guilty to robbery.

Judge Nicholas Vincent told her: “This was a street mugging and the serious feature was that you targeted a 69-year-old woman. It was no doubt a terrifying experience for her.”