The 100-year-old widow who was mugged and later died from her injuries prayed for the man he launched the brutal assault on her as she lay dying in her deathbed.

Polish-born Zofija Kaczan died on Wednesday, nine days after she was left with a broken neck when she was mugged walking from her home in Derby to her local church.

Friends of Mrs Kaczan have spoken of their anguish of losing the pensioner, who was described as a 'remarkable friend' and 'stalwart of the community' in their touching tributes.

Anya Skrytek, 80, a close friend of Mrs Kaczan revealed the devout Catholic 'prayed for forgiveness of her killer'.

Polish-born Zofija Kaczan died on Wednesday, nine days after she was left with a broken neck after being mugged

Ms Skrytek found her friend lying in the street after the attack and called an ambulance for her.

Police confirmed a 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Flowers have been hung outside the St Maksymilian Kolbe Church she used to visit every day, with Father Sebastian Ludwin lighting candles in her memory inside the church.

He recalled the moment she was brought into church following the attack, where her bag was snatched from her by an attacker.

Father Ludwin said: 'She had black eyes, a lot of blood on her face and we bandaged her up and sat her in the last pew waiting for an ambulance. The community has been left shocked at what has happened. She was a remarkable woman.'

Her death came nearly a month after her 100th birthday, which she celebrated with friends. She even received a blessing from the Pope but despite living in England since 1948, she never applied for British citizenship so did not receive a blessing from the Queen.

The pensioner grew up in the town of Brody until the Nazi occupation. Her younger brother was killed by Hitler's forces while she was sent to work detail in Germany.

A friend of Mrs Kaczan said she was sent to work in two factories making nails and porcelain and was housed in a concentration camp, possibly Dachau.

Mrs Kaczan attended the St Maksymilian Kolbe Polish Church every day

Floral tributes have been left outside the church which she attended

Following the end of the war, she fled to England with her partner Mikolaj, first living in Weston on Trent before moving to Derby.

Another friend of Mrs Kaczan said her husband passed away in 2009, leaving her 'lonely and depressed'.

Friends paid touching tributes to Mrs Kaczan, describing her as an 'amazing person' and a 'stalwart of the community'.

Ms Zimand told the Daily Telegraph: 'We are just in a state of disbelief that this could have happened and that after such a difficult life she met such a violent end.'

Despite Mrs Kaczan's prayers for her killer, some of her friends harbour no such thoughts of forgiveness.

Anna Krepa, 83, another close friend, said: 'The penalties are too soft in England and this is why there are people committing so much crime. It breaks my heart.

'If this man has committed murder, he should be hanged.'