A thug has been jailed after robbing a deaf woman in her 80s on the escalators of Westminster Underground station after ruthlessly manhandling her. Liam McGuicken, 53, of no fixed address, was jailed for 16 months at Inner London Crown Court on Friday, August 1, after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.
The court heard that on Tuesday, April 15, McGuicken crept up upon the elderly victim as she travelled down the escalators and towards the platform. She stood with her friend, who was also deaf, and unable to notice the incident that followed.
As he got near the woman, McGuicken put his hands on her chest and pinned her against the handrail, as he went through her pockets. The victim couldn’t hear what he was saying to her, but turned her face away in fear.
McGuicken reached into the victim’s coat pocket and stole her wallet before getting off of the escalator at the bottom and immediately getting the escalator back up. As he was on the escalator, station CCTV footage showed him rifling through the wallet he had just stolen.
McGuicken was arrested a month later at Sutton railway station after he was stopped by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service after attempting to dodge a fare.
Detective Inspector Alan Judd said: “McGuicken sickeningly targeted an elderly deaf woman as she was making her way through the station, cowardly choosing to target a vulnerable woman for his own gain. I’m very pleased with the result, and I sincerely hope McGuicken takes this opportunity to change. His conviction sends a strong message, that robbery will not be tolerated on the railway network.”
“We take all reports of robbery extremely seriously, and would urge anyone who was the victim of a robbery or who witnessed one to contact us. You can speak to a member of staff or to an officer, call us on 0800 40 50 40, or text 61016.”
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