A homeless woman who left a vulnerable victim traumatised and injured in a street robbery has walked free from court.
The victim, who has multiple sclerosis, was in Sunderland to visit a friend in hospital when she was suddenly attacked as she walked along the street by Lynsey Doeg. She snatched her handbag in a violent struggle which snapped its strap and left the victim with bruising, a torn fingernail and reopened stitches in her mouth.
As Doeg was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court, the woman went into the witness box to outline the severe psychological impact of the ordeal, which has left her afraid to go out alone and has triggered previous trauma. She said: "I see her face all the time very clearly. I close my eyes and there she is. I feel maybe she needs to see me.
