Toddler's mum robs pensioner of £7 in street

19 April 2007

AN ANOREXIC woman has been jailed for 16 months for robbing an arthritic pensioner of just £7 in the street in broad daylight.

Monica De Oliveira, 24, approached 72-year-old Eileen Chambers for directions in Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green.

The OAP then hobbled round the corner with her walking stick, only to be followed by De Oliveira.

"She knocked the pensioner backwards on to a parked car," prosecutor Charles Crinion told Southwark crown court.

"De Oliveira pushed and struggled with Eileen Chambers, who has had a hip replacement."

Two passers-by rushed to help Mrs Chambers, then spotted De Oliveira hiding in a basement close by and held her till police arrived.

De Oliveira's lawyer Susan Meek told the court her eating disorder has been so bad she has been on a drip feed.

"It seems so out of character for her to behave in this way," said the lawyer. "We don't know what an earth went wrong for this young woman."

De Oliveira, the mother of an 18-month-old boy, had no previous record of violence.

Even Judge Andrew Collender remarked her sudden violence would remain a mystery.

De Oliveira, living in Roman Road, round the corner from the scene of her attack, was jailed after admitting the robbery in November.