Peckham mugger gets life

A teenager who attacked a woman of 81 in her flat, tried to rape her and locked her in a cupboard for two days, was jailed for life at the Old Bailey. The frail spinster, under 5ft tall, was left for dead. She was only freed when her sole relative, a postman, came to see if she was all right on Christmas Eve, the court heard.

The attacker was Roderick Russell, then 17, whose fingerprints were found on the furniture he piled against the cupboard to stop her escaping. He was given three life sentences. Judge Richard Hawkins ordered that Russell must serve at least 12 years before being considered for parole.