Arrest after woman’s handbag stolen near Worksop by man in flip-flops

The 57-year-old victim was walking along Walesby Lane, Ollerton, when someone behind her grabbed her bag.

A man then managed to wrench the handbag out of the woman’s hands on Wednesday, April 12, at about 6.30pm – leaving the woman with “minor injuries”.

Nottinghamshire Police said the man, who was wearing flipflops at the time, then ran in the direction of Gattlys Lane, where he got into a car and drove away.

After carrying out detailed inquiries, officers tracked down a suspect matching the robber’s description shortly afterwards.

A 32-year-old man has since been arrested on suspicion of robbery.

The stolen bag, containing all its contents, was later retrieved and handed back to the victim.

Detective Sergeant Andrea Brown, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Thanks to the tenacity of our officers, we were able to quickly locate and arrest a suspect following this incident.

“As you would expect, the victim was left feeling very distressed about what happened.

“There is simply no excuse for anyone to commit a robbery, which is a horrible crime that can have huge implications for people going forward.

“We will not stand for this type of behaviour and will always investigate each report we receive of this nature.”

Anyone who has any information relating to this incident is asked to contact the police on 101, quoting incident 608 of April 12, 2023, or, alternatively, contact crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.