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Pensioner, 79, left black and blue by thugs who attacked her for her mobility scooter

Ida Brown was left black and blue after thieves threw her to the ground as they tried to steal her mobility scooter from her garden. (NCJ Media)
Ida Brown was left black and blue after thieves threw her to the ground as they tried to steal her mobility scooter from her garden. (NCJ Media)

A pensioner who is battling leukaemia was left black and blue by two thugs who tried to steal her mobility scooter from her home.

Ida Brown, 79, woke to hear the pair trying to steal her £1,300 scooter from outside her home.

When the pensioner, who recently underwent a heart procedure, opened her door, she was dragged against a pebble-dashed wall and left on the ground while the men fled — warning that they would return.

Brown was left with severe bruising across her face and a badly-injured knee after the attack at her home in Ross Avenue, Dunston, Gateshead, early on Sunday.

She spent around five hours in the A&E department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead and has since been left terrified that the thugs will return.

Ida woke to hear the men trying to steal her mobility scooter. (NCJ Media)
Ida woke to hear the men trying to steal her mobility scooter. (NCJ Media)

She said: "I've never been scared before, but now I've been told to keep my door locked."

Admitting she'd like to "throttle" the pair responsible, she said: "They are rubbish in my mind.

"They wouldn't dare pick on someone who would fight back. Elderly people are probably all they will pick on."

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As it was still dark when the attack took place, Brown was unable to get a good look at her attackers but believes they were in their late teens or early 20s with "Geordie" accents.

"What worries me is that if it happened to someone else," she said.

"Elderly people are not that strong. If they hit (others) they way that I was, I think they could kill some people."

The 79-year-old, who is battling leukaemia, was left black and blue and had to spend several hours in A&E. (NCJ Media)
The 79-year-old, who is battling leukaemia, was left black and blue and had to spend several hours in A&E. (NCJ Media)

Police are appealing for anyone with any information on the attack or who may be responsible to get in touch.

Neighbourhood Inspector Alan Davison, of Northumbria Police, said: "This is an abhorrent attack on a vulnerable pensioner in her own home and we are determined to find those responsible.

“The mobility scooter would clearly belong to someone with a vulnerability and I find it appalling that anyone would try to take it away from someone in need.

“To then shove an elderly woman into a wall, and cause the level of injury that they have done, is beyond comprehension and I know the wider community will share our anger."

He added: “We have carried out extensive enquiries already but we need the help of those living in the Dunston area if we are to identify who they are.

“There will be people out there who know who is responsible and we would urge you to look at these pictures of Ida and ask whether you are happy for those responsible to evade justice.”

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