Seeing 'coward' jailed for Christmas attacks on elderly women is a ‘good result’ for Northampton detectives

A drug-addict thief who robbed two elderly women days before Christmas to feed his habit has been labelled a coward by Northampton detectives who saw him jailed.

Lead investigator DC Chris Forshaw and PC Olivia Mawby hunted down David Law after his heartless crimes.

After Law was jailed for five years, two months last week at Northampton Crown Court, DC Forshaw said: “Seeing Law handed a sentence of more than five years is a really good result.

“I hope he is ashamed of himself for these cowardly crimes.

“Whilst the physical effects of these robberies were thankfully quite minimal, the psychological damage done to these two women has been immense.

"Being robbed is something that never leaves you, regardless of what age it happens.

“Both women have supported our investigation from the beginning, so I would like to thank them and I hope the conclusion of this case provides them with a sense of closure.”

Law entered the home of an elderly woman he had befriended in St Andrew’s Street a week before Christmas in 2020, stealing her handbag containing cash and bank cards and knocking her off balance as he fled.

He later used the stolen cards to take out more than £300 in cash, leaving the woman so short of money that she was forced to look to food banks in order to eat over the festive holidays.

Three days after Christmas, on December 28, Law snatched a handbag off the arm of a woman in her late 70s as she was walking along Kingsley Park Terrace, leaving her severely distressed.

A victim statement revealed she still had nightmares and flashbacks of the attack seven months later, leaving her too scared to even take the bus to go out.

Law’s criminal record dated back to 1991 involving taking a car without consent in 1991, three counts of actual bodily harm in 1996 and a number of burglaries.

Sumita Mahtad-Shiaikh, mitigating, told the court the two offences in 2020 had been committed while Law was under the influence of addiction to Class A drugs and robbed to fund his drug habit.