Patience Chukwu was experiencing contractions when her attacker stole her phone and repeatedly punched her in the head

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A heavily pregnant woman who was robbed in the street while experiencing contractions pleaded with her attacker to stop as he repeatedly punched her in the head.

Patience Chukwu was making her way to hospital at about 9am on Sunday 26 June when she was approached by a young man on a bike who snatched her mobile as she tried to call her sister, her birthing partner.

During the ensuing struggle, the 40-year-old was dragged down the road by the thief, who repeatedly punched her in the head before fleeing the scene.

The shock of the ordeal caused her baby to become distressed and he was rushed to intensive care following an emergency caesarean, which took place when midwives were unable to detect the baby’s heartbeat.

Two-month-old Ozil, whose name means “a child who is born with divine strength”, has suffered painful seizures “almost daily” since the attack and Chukwu is now afraid to walk down the street or use her phone in public.

She said: “He was pulling me, dragging me with the bike, I was pleading. I said: ‘Please, I’m in labour, as you can see I’m heavily pregnant.’ He didn’t want to listen, he didn’t want to stop, he was trying to ride the bike.

“He was hitting me to let go but I refused to let go.”

She called her attacker a “coward” and said: “He really wanted to hit my tummy because the level of which his hand was coming would have landed on my stomach. So I shielded my baby, with my hand and I bent down, the blow went to my eyes and everything became so dark.

“I couldn’t see so I let go ... and the boy started pedalling away.”

Immediately after the attack on Leadale Road in north London, Chukwu, who was shivering and shaking, was looked after by members of the public until the police arrived.

One officer asked her questions while the other timed her contractions as they waited for an ambulance, she said.

In hospital, she was not able to hold her baby until early the next morning, and when she later saw him in an incubator she felt “sad and responsible” for his suffering.

“I saw all the wires connected, I felt so responsible that my baby was going through that. I felt that if I had not run after the man or held on to him, being dragged by him, my baby might not have gone through that stress.

“But I was told even if I didn’t go after the boy or hold him, the shock alone that my phone was snatched unexpectedly is also enough for the baby to go through that same shock, that stress.”

Chukwu suffered from depression and anxiety before the attack, which has now worsened. She said: “I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel free going out now.

“I’m so afraid of people coming towards me ... And no matter how important the call is, if I have a phone call, if my phone is ringing as long as I’m outside I don’t pick it [up].”

“Now if I see someone coming, especially a man on a bike, I will look for another alternative route to take.”

Police have released an e-fit of the attacker, described as a short black man of medium build between 18 and 20 years old, with shaven hair and brown eyes.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police e-fit of the attacker. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

He was wearing a grey hooded top and has a slim face with pronounced cheek bones and a rough, pock-marked complexion.

Chukwu asked for anyone with information to come forward, “not for me or my son but for another woman and another baby not to go through what we went through and the ordeal we are going through at the moment”.

It will be “difficult” to move on until her attacker is brought to justice, she added.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the investigation team on 07795 122 325 or 101 and request Hackney CID, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.