An elderly woman has told a court of the ongoing complications she endures after a coward knocked her to the ground after he snatched her purse in the Woolworths Unanderra car park.
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The woman, 76, sustained severe facial injuries and was unable to open her left eye for eight weeks after Shane John Windley robbed her about 4.30pm on March 9.
"I was embarrassed to go out socially," she said, adding she experienced headaches for the next three months.
"Since the attack I have become anxious of people who walk behind me."
Judge Andrew Haesler read out the woman's victim impact statement before sentencing Windley, 47, at Wollongong District Court on Thursday.
The woman also sustained a concussion, swelling to her shoulder, and cuts to both hands which required stitches.
She was forced to heavily rely on family to dress her cuts, make her meals and drive her around. She still hasn't regained full mobility of her left hand.
CCTV footage of Windley's brazen attack was aired in court showing him running up behind the victim and snatching her handbag from the front of the trolley she was pushing.
The woman had her hand on the bag and tried to keep hold of it as Windley swooped.
"This offender - who was larger, younger and stronger - was able to pull the bag out of her hands but in doing so, both she and he fell to the ground," Judge Haesler said.
"She fell much harder than he did."
Windley got off the road and ran. In a final act of cowardice, he turned around and saw the victim's iPhone on the ground, so he ran back to pick it up before he fled.
Several witnesses went to the woman's aid as she lay there bleeding. She was taken to Wollongong Hospital where she stayed overnight.
Meanwhile, Windley hid in a nearby bush where he changed his clothes.
Inside the stolen bag was $70 in cash, the victim's driver's licence, bank card, Medicare card and other personal belongings.
Police were able to locate Windley the next day by tracking the victim's mobile phone which led them to Harbour Street.
Windley was arrested and made full admissions to the offence, telling police he used the victim's cash to buy an energy drink and the drug 'ice'.
When shown the CCTV footage, Windley said "I'm pretty disgusted in myself ... 'cause she hit the ground f---ing hard".
He pleaded guilty in August to aggravated robbery and inflicting actual bodily harm and on Thursday he apologised to the victim, who was seated in the courtroom.
"I want to sincerely apologise for my actions and the harm I caused you ... I really am sorry for that," he said.
The judge noted Windley "effectively went off the rails" when his mother died when he was age six and started abusing drugs at age 13.
Windley received a three-year and two-month jail term, with a non-parole period of one year and 11 months.
With time on remand taken into account, he will become eligible for release in February 2025.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
