Barry gambler mugged after taxi driver followed her from casino
AN ELDERLY woman was mugged twice by a taxi driver who followed her home from a casino and stole her winnings.
The Barry woman in her 70s was targeted by cabbie, Yusef Mohamed who tailed her as she drove home from Les Croupiers in Cardiff.
The 38-year-old defendant robbed her in November and then again in January by grabbing the victim’s handbag before fleeing in his taxi, Thomas Stanway, prosecuting said.
The second mugging has left the pensioner scarred for life after she suffered a large cut above her eye when she fell and was dragged across the floor.
Mr Stanway read out her victim impact statement which said of the later offence: “When this happened, I was frightened for my life. I thought he might kill me.
“When he walked away I shouted at him, ‘Why did you do this to me?’
“But I couldn't do anything. He just got in his car and drove off. I was thinking to myself, why did he do this to me? Why did he come back again?
"He knows where I live. I was crying and blood was pouring out of my face.
“My body was shaking. I was bruised and frightened. I was in a serious mess. I could barely see due to the blood in my eyes.
“I had great difficulty getting up from the concrete floor. I was petrified. I could have died there on that cold floor.
“This man targeted me and followed me back to my own home.”
Among the items stolen was £1,900 cash, her house keys, mobile phone and a camera which had “sentimental” photographs of the victim’s grandchildren and children.
The victim had enjoyed going to Les Croupiers where she would gamble and socialise with her friends, Cardiff Crown Court was told.
Mohamed, of Wells Street, Riverside, Cardiff pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and one of wounding.
Nadeem Majid representing him said his client had no previous convictions and had entered early guilty pleas.
The Recorder of Cardiff Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told Mohamed: “It is clear from the material I have read that until very recently you were nothing other than a respectable, decent, law-abiding citizen.
“You began to develop some financial difficulties and you began then to think that gambling would be the answer, that you could go to a casino and that you could win money and this would solve your financial difficulties.
“It couldn't have been very long before you realised that this was not going to happen and that you were simply going to lose money.
“And this is what happened and you began to develop a gambling habit.
“This has turned you from a decent citizen into a criminal and someone who has committed serious offences – robberies against a vulnerable elderly lady who has suffered significantly because of your actions.”
The defendant was jailed for four years and eight months and made the subject of a 10-year restraining order.
