12:00pm Tuesday 24th March 2009
A CLERGY widow from Stonehouse was left shaken and traumatised after she was targeted by thieves during a trip to visit her son in London.
Great grandmother Paddi Spruyt, who regularly volunteers at a Stroud day care centre, lost almost £170 in cash, a bank card and family photographs when she was pick-pocketed in a café at Heathrow Central bus and coach station.
Mrs Spruyt, whose husband the Rev John Spruyt died several years ago, was travelling alone by National Express coach to visit her son in Essex last month.
"It has left me very traumatised," she said.
"I find it hard to sleep now, I see the man who stole from me vividly all the time.
"Going by coach is the only way I can visit my son, and I will go back soon but it has left me feeling scared and vulnerable around strangers."
National Express has since posted her some of her treasured photographs and other items from her stolen wallet after they were found abandoned on one of their coaches.
Police in London are continuing their investigations.
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