Gran chases 6ft pickpocketer

A grandmother chased a pickpocket through a packed Tube station and forced him to hand back her purse, after confronting him in front of a stunned crowd of rush-hour travellers.

Heather Thomas, 53, was so outraged when she saw the burly 6ft tall, 14-stone thief run out of a Tube carriage with credit cards and cash from her handbag that she sprinted along the platform of Kensington High Street station after him.

When he tried to escape by leaping into the end carriage, just before the doors closed, she forced her way in behind him and demanded her purse back.

Mrs Thomas, a Learning Skills Council manager from Minster, Kent, said she was "so overwhelmed with rage" she gave no thought to her safety. After the attack she said: "He was a big, fit guy in his thirties and he towered over me - but all I could feel was anger.

"I saw him looking at me in a strange way as I waited on the platform at Kensington. When I got onto the train, he stood next to me. Suddenly I noticed my bag was much lighter.

"I saw him running off down the platform with my purse. My instinct took over and I started running after him - even though he was a big, bad man and I am only 5ft 5ins tall. But I am quite fit because I do lots of aerobics classes and I found I was gaining on him.

"He saw me coming after him and jumped into one of the end carriages just as the doors were about to shut. I jumped in behind him. I was shouting at him, 'You idiot, Give me back my credit cards.' I was livid.

"He was cornered, because the carriage was full. There was a look of total amazement on his face. He threw the purse at me and said, 'Go on, have it then,' then legged it."

The extraordinary scene was witnessed by hundreds of office workers returning home at around 4.30pm, yet only one man attempted to help Mrs Thomas. She said "People were just standing there pretending nothing was happening. One man asked me how I was feeling afterwards and offered me his seat."

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