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Heroin addict locked up for attacking elderly woman

The man who made a brazen attack on an elderly woman on Monday will spend a year in prison for the crime.

Confessed heroin addict Michael Ratteray, 45, from St. John?s Road, Pembroke admitted the charges of common assault and attempted robbery in Magistrates? Court yesterday.

In yesterday?s edition of the 61-year-old victim, who did not want to be named, recounted the daytime incident saying she ?screeched? to draw attention. Ratteray was apprehended by two members of the public after he mugged the elderly woman outside Cycle Care on the corner of Woodland?s Road and St. John?s Road at about 10.50 a.m.

The woman told Police that she was walking back to her van when she looked down and saw Ratteray?s hand in her bag, which she had slung over her shoulder.

Crown counsel Nicole Smith told the court yesterday the woman grabbed hold of the bag and screamed, but was pushed to the ground by Ratteray as he tried to free his hand, still holding onto her wallet. The wallet contained cash and cheques valued at about $500.

A van driver and a man on a bike stopped their vehicles when they heard the woman scream and chased Ratteray as he headed towards his residence on St. John?s Road. They caught up with him and held him until Police arrived. Ratteray told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner he was sorry.

?At the time I was going through heroine withdrawal and that?s not like me. I?ve never done anything like this before,? he said.

He said he enrolled in a Turning Point programme on Tuesday, following the incident and had to leave court because he had blood tests yesterday afternoon.

?If I knew who the lady was, I would apologise to her and explain what I was going through. I would offer to do some work on her house,? he said. Mr. Warner told Ratteray he should send him for psychological tests because he Ratteray must be ?mad?.

?You mug a woman in broad daylight, push her to the ground and expect her to allow you to come to her house and do work for her?? he asked. Ratteray asked the court for leniency, adding that he deserved a second chance.

Mr. Warner looked over Ratteray?s previous convictions and told him he had had every chance in the past. Ratteray told the court he had just started a new job ? on the day he mugged the woman ? and was getting his bike fixed that morning.

Shaking his head, Mr. Warner sentenced Ratteray to 12 months in prison for assault with an additional three months to run concurrent for attempted robbery. He told Ratteray he was lucky that the Criminal Code Act had not been passed, or he would have given him a more severe sentence, adding: ?You?re lucky I can?t give you the maximum sentence. Come back next month and I will!?