A Hungarian teenager forced his way into the home of an elderly couple during a frightening robbery that ended with their much-loved dog being found dead.
Jackie Thompson, 82, was kicked to the floor inside her bungalow while her husband George, 83, who lives with vascular dementia, tried desperately to help her.
The couple’s cherished Jack Russell-type dog, Sophie, was later discovered dead under a bed after the raid at their home in Wath upon Dearne, South Yorkshire.
Mrs Thompson has spoken about the ordeal after a 16-year-old foreign national was ordered this week to serve two years in youth custody.
The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to robbery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The grandmother-of-three said the incident began after she returned from a shopping trip and was carrying bags from her car when she spotted the youth by her front door.
She said: “I walked up to him and said, ‘Can I help you?’”
“He spoke in very broken English and said, ‘You’ve got my parcel,’” she recalled.
Jackie Thompson, 82, was kicked to the floor of her own home as her husband George, 83, who has vascular dementia, desperately tried to come to her aid in the terrifying house raid
‘I told him I didn’t have any parcel of his, but he kept insisting it had been delivered to my house.’
Her dog Sophie began growling at the stranger, but Mrs Thompson reassured him the pet was harmless and sent her to her bed.
But when she ordered the youth to leave, he refused.
‘He put his foot inside the front door to stop it closing,’ she said.
‘I tried to push the door towards him, but he forced it back and shoved me out of the way. That’s when I realised something was very wrong.’
The teenager then pushed his way inside and knocked Mrs Thompson to the floor.
‘I didn’t even know at first what he was trying to take,’ she said.
‘I had a pouch around my neck with my phone and money in it, and he was grappling for that while hitting me.’
Her husband George then emerged from the kitchen, hobbling as he tried to help.
‘He shouldn’t have even been walking,’ Mrs Thompson said.
‘The man grabbed hold of him, punched him and shoved him into the hallway. My husband hit his head on the doorframe.’
Mrs Thompson said she was pushed to the ground again and kicked as the young intruder continued searching for valuables.
‘I tried to get up again, but I was already exhausted,’ she said. ‘I’d just run out of steam.
‘At some point he managed to pull the pouch from around my neck, but he only got the strap.
‘When he realised that, he ran back in, pushed me down again and grabbed my purse from the floor.
‘I remember thinking, ‘Let him have it.’ I just couldn’t fight any more.’
During the attack, Sophie emerged from a bedroom barking. She was later found dead underneath a bed.
The boy was not charged with any animal cruelty offence and police treated the dog’s death as unexplained.
But Mrs Thompson believes Sophie was kicked during the raid.
‘She was trying to protect us,’ she said.
‘When he kicked me, I heard her cry out. She ran off after that.
‘Later, when everything had calmed down, I found her in the spare room. She’d crawled in there and died.
‘She had a heart murmur, but I know she was kicked.’
The couple’s Jack Russel dog Sophie was tragically and inexplicably killed during the thug’s raid and found dead under a bed. The boy was never charged for any animal cruelty offences, but Mrs Thompson believes he kicked the beloved pet while trying to ‘protect’ her owners
The teenager fled with Mrs Thompson’s mobile phone and purse but was soon arrested in a park.
Mrs Thompson and her husband were taken to hospital for treatment to minor injuries.
She said: ‘I’m 82 and my husband is 83. Nobody should ever have to go through something like this, especially not in their own home. It’s terrifying. It really is.
‘I still can’t believe it happened. It took me completely off guard. You think you’re aware of these things, but when it actually happens, you have no words.
‘It was opportunistic – he must have thought I was easy prey.
‘My husband has forgotten the whole attack, which I’m grateful for in a way. But he keeps asking for the dog and that’s heartbreaking.
‘Losing her has been absolutely devastating.’
In a statement issued at the time, South Yorkshire Police said: ‘Violence and abhorrent acts of this kind have no place in our communities and will not be tolerated.
‘An elderly couple has been physically and mentally affected by this incident, and we will do all we can to ensure justice is served.’
The boy was handed a two-year detention and training order at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on July 1.
Police refused to disclose his nationality, claiming doing so was not in the public interest.
