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Mary Hammond

Age: 66

Sex: female

Date: 16 Jul 1994

Place: Ludlow Court, South Acton Estate, Park Road East, Acton, London

Mary Hammond was attacked in a corridor outside her flat in Acton on 12 July 1994.

She died four days later at about 5.25am on Saturday 16 July 1994.

The police said that they were looking to identify a teenage mugger that had taken her pension book and £170 in cash that she had had in her handbag. The mugger was described as being black and aged between 15 and 18.

Mary Hammond had just stepped out of a lift on the South Acton Estate in Park Road East at about 2.50pm when she was attacked. The youth was said to have grabbed her handbag and pulled her to the ground. She was said to have pulled her handbag so hard that she crashed to the ground and broke several bones.

She suffered a broken arm, leg and hip and internal bleeding and later died in hospital. She had suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and later died from pneumonia brought about by her injuries.

She had been out shopping in the Acton High Street area and had collected her pension before making her way back to Ludlow Court.

She had got into a lift at the block of flats with another tenant and was followed in by the youth. When she got out on the first floor the youth jumped out after her just as the lift doors closed and punced on her as she walked along the corridor and yanked her handbag, pulling her down onto the concrete floor, leaving her screaming in agony.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said that they were treating her death as murder.

They said that they were looking to trace her movements before the attack on the Tuesday, and talk to any witnesses who might have seen the youth fleeing the scene.

The police said that they didn’t know whether the youth had followed Mary Hammond back to her flat from the post office or her shopping trip, saying, 'We do not know if the thief followed Mary from the post office or during her shopping trip, so we need to account for her every movement. We also want to speak to anyone who may have seen her attacker running away'. 

The police added, 'It is too early to say whether her attacker lives in the area or whether he will strike again. What we will be doing is comparing all similar offences in the area to see if there are any possible links'.

Following her murder tenants on the estate demanded more police patrols and improved security measures after it was revealed that the entrance door to her block was broken.  A tenants representative on the estate that had been a friend of Mary Hammond said, 'I have spoken to both the police and the council and hope they will take action. We have a lot of old people living here and need more police patrols and better security from the council'.

However, a senior police officer for the area said that there were no plans to increase the police presence on the estate. He said, 'The area already receives substantial police resources and we intend to maintain that. It is a very large estate with lots of nooks and crannies and it's difficult to provide total police cover'.

A council spokesman said that the council had only just been made aware of the broken front door at Ludlow Court when the Gazette newspaper phoned on the Tuesday and informed them. She said that it was last fixed on 25 May 1994 and would be repaired again within a day.

Mary Hammond had been a former president of the Acton British Legion and had one son. She was described as a very popular lady who had been involved in fund-raising and who took a great pride in keeping her flat and the corridors spotless.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.ukpressonline.co.uk

see Daily Express Mon 31 Jul 1995 Page 19

see Aberdeen Evening Express - Monday 18 July 1994

see Aberdeen Press and Journal - Tuesday 19 July 1994

see Middlesex County Times - Friday 22 July 1994

see Middlesex County Times - Friday 09 September 1994

see Birmingham Weekly Mercury - Sunday 17 July 1994