A 77-year-old woman turned the tables on three teenage robbers who targeted her at a cash machine in Bromborough, Wirral, near Liverpool, in April 2016.

Winifred Peel was withdrawing money from an HSBC ATM on Bromborough Village Road when the gang struck. One of the men pushed her aside while another leaned over and pressed the button to withdraw £200. Realising she was being robbed, Peel grabbed the second man — later identified as 19-year-old Felix Stoica — by the collar and slammed his head against the cash machine three times in an attempt to stop him.

The three attackers managed to escape with the money. Peel went into the bank for help and reported the incident. Police later identified and arrested the suspects using CCTV footage of the men in the area, along with the visible head injuries Stoica had sustained.

The three Romanian teenagers, who lived in Manchester, pleaded guilty to robbery at Liverpool Crown Court. Felix Stoica, 19, of Levenshulme, was sentenced to two years in a young offenders’ institution. Florin Geblescu, 18, received 18 months, and Piper Dumitru, also 18, who acted as a lookout and had driven the group despite being disqualified from driving, was given eight months.

Prosecutors told the court the men had driven to Bromborough looking for “easy targets.” Judge Norman Wright criticised them for targeting a vulnerable elderly victim, saying: “This is a lady who is in the twilight of life, and you have cast a deep shadow over that.”

In a victim impact statement, Peel said the attack had changed her life and shaken her confidence. She later spoke about regularly going to the gym and credited her fitness with helping her fight back.

The case drew attention for highlighting both the vulnerability of elderly people at ATMs and the courage of one woman who refused to be an easy victim.

Sources

• Liverpool Echo