CCTV footage has emerged that shows a brave grandmother chasing down and tackling a purse snatching tradesman after a dispute over pokie winnings at the Gold Coast’s Pimpama Tavern.
Troy Charles Bennett fronted court last week charged with attempted robbery following an incident that began when he accused the grandmother of stealing his pokie winnings in January this year.
The court heard that Bennett followed the grandmother into the female toilet yelling, “I want my money.” However, the grandmother told him to “get lost” and claimed the money that she had was $40 that was still in her pokie machine.
When the grandmother decided to leave the venue, Bennett followed her outside and then snatched her purse from a table and began running down the street.
Amazingly, the 55-year-old grandmother soon caught up to Bennett and proceeded to sling him to the ground before putting the 43-year-old rigger in a headlock and pulling his high-vis tradesman shirt over his head.
During the scuffle, the grandmother managed to reclaim her handbag and triumphantly walked past Mr Bennett as he struggled to put his shirt back on and climb into his white ute that was within close proximity to the incident.
Police were able to identify the ute which then led them to Bennett.
Bennett was sentenced to 18 months jail with immediate parole, but the judge warned the tradesman to “deal with his alcohol problem or end up in jail”.
IMMEDIATE PAROLE WOW
Wow! When the headline stated ‘grandmother’, I pictured an 80 yo woman, but turns out she was just 55, and not much older than myself.Sensationalising much??!
I don’t know why she has to be referred to as a ‘grandmother.” I had visions of an old lady with a walker attacking this tradie. I suppose :grandmother” makes better headlines. How about, “a woman fought back after being robbed by a tradie?