EXCLUSIVE: Have-a-go pensioner, 77, who confronted two knife-wielding Rolex muggers with a walking stick as they robbed £60,000 watch from woman in her 30s slams the robbers as ‘cowards’
- EXCLUSIVE: Hero Daisy Alexander shook her grandfather’s stick at the thieves
- She said she ‘reacted as best she could’ as no one else seemed to do anything
- It was only afterwards that her husband Richard, 77, told her they’d had a knife
- The armed robbery took place on a quiet street in Chelsea, London on Monday
- Two hooded thugs wearing balaclavas ambushed a woman, 30s, and man, 40s
A brave have-a-go pensioner who confronted two knife-wielding Rolex muggers with a walking stick has slammed the thugs as ‘cowards’.
Hero Daisy Alexander, 77, and her husband Richard, also 77, dashed out after hearing screams as a woman in her 30s was robbed of her £60,000 timepiece by the hooded pair.
While others stood by – or watched filming from their balconies – Richard confronted the yobs and told them to stop before Daisy ran out with her grandfather’s three-foot walking stick and chased them off.
She said: ‘No one else seemed to be doing anything apart from filming on their phones so I reacted as best I could.’
Footage of the incident, which happened in broad daylight in a quiet street in Chelsea, west London, has gone viral but it’s the gallant actions of Daisy and Richard which have grabbed attention.
Americans Daisy and Richard – who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year – have lived in London since 1972 after meeting at college in the US.
They moved to the house next door to where the mugging happened in 1982 and have lived there ever since, rarely venturing back across the Atlantic to where they were born.
They leapt into action as the woman and her partner in his 40s were walking along Pond Place on Monday afternoon.
Daisy told MailOnline: ‘It was Richard who heard the screams first, I was upstairs reading the newspaper and I heard him go outside and shout “stop it, stop it”.
‘I came downstairs to see what the fuss was and when I looked up the street I saw the poor woman on the floor, her partner and these two what I can only say thugs standing over her.
Daisy Alexander (pictured) said she jumped into action as no one else seemed to be doing anything to help the couple
‘In fact, thugs is probably too nice a word, in my opinion they were cowards for doing what they were doing to that poor woman.
‘So, I rushed back inside and grabbed my grandfather’s walking stick, it must be about 80 years old if not more, and I went outside and shook it at them.
‘I didn’t hit them with it, but it certainly had the right effect as they ran off into the car and drove away. I don’t think they were expecting to be confronted by an elderly woman with a walking stick.’
Daisy, who has no children and joked her potted flower window boxes were her children, added: ‘They were just extraordinary cowards, and I would do it again if I had to. I wanted to scare them off and it worked as they jumped into their car and sped off.
‘All I remember is one of them looked at extremely big but I didn’t see a knife. It was only afterwards that Richard told me one of them had a knife and was pointing it at the throat of the lady.
‘I just remember thinking it wasn’t right and someone had to do something instead of just standing by and filming it on their phone.
‘My grandfather was very fond of his walking stick, and I’ve had it for years. I don’t use it that often but I’m sure he would be very proud to know it was put to good use.’
Volunteer worker Daisy also revealed how it was not the first time she had stepped in to help out in a dangerous situation.
She said: ‘This is usually such a quiet street and this is the first time anything like this has happened here in years.
‘The only other occasion when something dramatic happened was about six years ago when a man set himself on fire down the road.
‘I rushed out then to help and tried to put the flames out with a coat I had but sadly he didn’t make it and he died.’
It was only afterwards that Daisy’s husband Richard, 77, who had been the first to hear the screams, told her one of the thieves had been carrying a knife
Video footage shows Daisy swinging shaking her grandfather’s walking sticks at the thieves, who then ran into the car and drove away
Retired chemical trader Richard said: ‘She’s a very formidable woman and I wouldn’t call her old! She is still very active and she just did what she thought was right.
‘She had no idea one of the men had a knife until I told her which shocked her a bit but I just don’t think they expected to be confronted by a 77-year-old woman with a walking stick.
‘I heard the screams and saw the woman on the ground and the muggers were trying to take her earrings as well but the man she was with was trying to push them away.
‘It’s such a quiet street and we have lived in London since the early 70s and back then when we first moved here there was never anything like this.
‘Now every day all you hear about is gun and knife crime; it’s like New York was back in the day. We don’t even have a police station here anymore as it shut a few years ago.
‘We get a nice community officer coming by every now and then but apart from that, nothing. In fact the police haven’t been to see us since it all happened.
‘It was all over in less than five minutes and an ambulance and police car were here quite quickly although someone said it took almost 25 minutes but it didn’t seem that long.
‘I did offer the girl a glass of very good brandy to calm her nerves but she declined it.’
When asked if she would do it again, Daisy told MailOnline: ‘Of course I would. I just can’t stand by and see someone do something unkind to someone.
‘It wasn’t just me though. I did have back up from my husband who was covering me.
‘After it was all over, I just got back to my day, I had an appointment and was dead heading some flowers nearby, so I just got on with that.
‘I didn’t have the brandy Richard had offered the girl as I needed a clear head for later but as he says it is a very good brandy.
‘We haven’t heard from the lady or the man – in fact I do remember he grabbed the stick to try and smash the car window – but it didn’t work.
‘They must be in a terrible shock but I hope they are ok and get over what happened.’
The men escaped in a grey Mitsubishi car with Daisy and Richard making a note of the registration number.
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