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This is the shocking moment a thief attacked a woman, kicking her in the stomach, punching her and spitting on her, when she tried to stop him from pickpocketing an elderly woman.

The attack, which took place at the Gamla Stan tube station in central Stockholm, Sweden, was caught on CCTV and shows the man creeping up behind the pensioner.

As the woman tries to take her phone out of her bag, the attacker walks up behind her and tries to steal her purse.

A man approaches an elderly woman from behind and tries to steal her purse (Picture: Swedish Police)

Yet he is spotted by a mother who is walking in the opposite direction with her two kids.




She immediately intervenes, shouting at him to stop and pushes his hand out of the bag.

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The woman spots him and intervenes (Picture: Swedish Police)

The attack happened at the Gamla Stan tube station in Stockholm (Picture: Swedish Police)

The thief then turns to the mother, punches her in the face and kicks her in the stomach.

The woman is left in complete shock as she grabs her children and runs to the exit.

But only seconds later, the man returns and spits at her in the face.

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(Picture: Swedish Police)

According to lead investigator Stefan Tellqvist from Stockholm City Police, it is ‘the worst thing I have ever seen during my years as a police officer’.

Mr Tellqvist, who is retiring this year, told SVT: ‘I will get him, if it’s the last thing I do.’

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