Avenging British Granny Beats Gang of Robbers With Handbag

LONDON -- A fearless British retiree fought off a gang of sledgehammer-wielding thieves who were trying to smash their way into a jewelry store, using nothing more than her trusty black handbag.

The granny's heroic actions were caught on camera by a freelance filmmaker, who was shooting a documentary nearby. He filmed the scooter-riding robbers pulling up outside Michael Jones Jewellers in the central English town of Northampton on Monday morning. The gang attacked the store's windows with hammers, as pedestrians on the busy street looked on.

However, a few seconds into the daytime raid, the footage shows a red-coated woman running across the road and subjecting the crash-helmeted hoodlums to a fierce handbag battering.

"I was standing talking with a woman when I heard a commotion, and I looked across and saw six young men on scooters," the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Daily Mail. "At first I thought one of them was being set upon by three others. I was not going to stand by and watch somebody take a beating or worse, so I tried to intervene."

When the unnamed 70-something -- dubbed "Supergran" by the British press -- got closer, she realized that a robbery was taking place. "I was even more angry that they felt they could get away with what they were doing in broad daylight," she said, according to The Sun. As one thief tried to run off, "I clobbered him with my shopping, but he got away," she said.

"I didn't know what happened next, but I just kept swinging my bag," the woman continued. "I landed several blows against one lad on the back of a bike and brought him to the ground. He raised a hammer to me, so I just kept hitting out and shouting and shouting for others to help and bring them down."

Other shoppers sprinted to her defense and wrestled the robber to the ground. "It was over in what seems like seconds," she said.

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Although the rest of the gang escaped, police later confirmed that they had arrested four men, ages 18, 22, 25 and 39, shortly after the incident. They are still hunting for the remaining two suspected members of the crew.

Sarah-Jane Brown, who works at a salon next to the jewelry shop, told the Daily Mail that the woman was "absolutely amazing. We were terrified, but we looked out of the window to see her running down the road with her handbag in the air. She did not seem scared or ruffled at all."

The elderly heroine, though, has casually brushed off her intervention. "I'm not a hero, and it was maybe foolish of me to get involved, but somebody had to do something," she said. "Now I just want to be left in peace. I feel very uncomfortable with all the press and media attention."