A 61-year-old carer was mugged at a bus stop in Stamford Hill on her way to work at 7am on Easter Sunday.

Rosie Shardlow, of Vartry Road, had a necklace stolen that had been left to her by her mother, along with her bag containing her phone and purse. She believes heartless thieves are targeting key workers like herself as they are the only people who should be out on the streets.

Rosie was on her way to the house of an elderly patient and had walked to her usual bus stop in Amhurst Park when she was approached by a young man who asked how long she had been waiting.

“He said to me: ‘What’s that on your jacket?’ and I told him I was a carer and he left it at that. Then he was looking down the road for a bus but he was probably seeing if anybody was about.

“I turned my head to look for a bus and then his hands were around my throat. He went: ‘Don’t scream’. I don’t like swearing but I said: ‘What the f*** are you doing?!’ and got hold of my chain, but he gave it a good yank and got it and then grabbed my bag.

“We had a bit of back and forth with the bag and then he managed to break the strap and off he went. I started chasing him like an idiot, and then he stopped and jumped into a car that had the engine running.”

“I felt numb, it was a weird feeling. It’s as if they are targeting people like us who are going out to work. I just think they are the lowest of the low. They know what’s happening with this corona business and have picked on the workers going out risking their own lives.

Rosie described the attacker as a young Black man, aged between 18 and 20.

Afterwards she called her work and told them she wouldn’t be able to focus on her job, and therefore should not go in.

She added: “I can’t afford to make mistakes so I took Sunday off but then on Monday I decided I wasn’t going to let them beat me and went back.”

There is hope of catching the culprit through CCTV, and Rosie is hoping for the return of the necklace at least.

“I got the bus today and I found the end of my chain on the floor,” she added. “I thought: ‘Well at least I’ve got some of it’.”

Anyone with information can call police on 101.