A MOTHER of four was robbed of her mobile phone by another woman, who claimed that her husband had sent her to steal, so as to provide for their newborn.

Melinda Forde, aged 29 years had left her Lot 115, Essex Street home, in New Amsterdam, just before 20:00hrs, on Monday evening to purchase a Chinese sausage fried rice. She had in her possession a Smart phone, which was a gift from her mother.

After making the purchase, she was returning home when in a narrow unlit passageway a few feet from her home, a woman pounced on her. The attacker had emerged from under the stairs of a building which shared the same unfenced yard space as Forde’s home.

Although the attack was sudden, the victim managed to hold on to the thief who had grabbed her mobile device. They struggled on to the road, where an alarm was raised and neighbours responded. But, the suspect, escaped, fleeing into an alleyway along Main and King Streets, before hiding amongst trucks within the precinct of the Guyana Power and Light Company on Strand Road. She was however later arrested and handed over to the police. A search on her person revealed the phone in her underwear.