4:28pm Friday 20th November 2009
A WOMAN who collapsed unconscious on the street in broad daylight woke to find thieves had snatched her handbag and £840 cash.
Donna King also had a ring taken from her finger as she lay just yards from her home in Bruntoft Avenue, Hartlepool.
Mrs King, 40, of Hartlepool, said she could have been "lying dead" for all the heartless thieves knew.
She had withdrawn the cash earlier in the day to do her Christmas shopping with.
She woke to find the contents of her handbag strewn across the path and her purse, bank cards and a Nationwide bank book missing.
The incident has left Mrs King too scared to venture out alone.
It is not known whether someone had followed her from local shops or whether an opportunist thief struck after seeing her sprawled out unconscious on the pavement.
Police have carried out door-to-door inquiries and scoured CCTV footage close to Mrs King's home.
Mrs King, who lives with husband Trevor, 39, and her two children Elynner-May, ten, and Rhys, 11, said: "Whoever did this is scum - there's no other way to describe them."
Detective Sergeant Jim Allen, of Hartlepool CID, said: "We are investigating reports of the incident and urge anyone with any information to ring 01642-302126."
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