Robber punched, kicked and choked woman to get her handbag

To defend herself from the robber who was pummelling her, the woman, 53, grabbed his groin. But Rishi Christopher, 20, was unrelenting in his attack.

By the time he was done with his victim, she was bloodied and bruised.

She suffered serious facial fractures, had to undergo surgery and was given a total of 41 days of medical leave.

Rishi was in court yesterday facing a slew of charges.

One of those offences happened on Oct 18 last year.

Rishi was sitting at the void deck of a Housing Board block when he noticed the victim walking past him with a handbag over her shoulder and a bunch of keys in her hand.

He followed her to the lift lobby and waited behind her.

When the lift doors opened on her level, she walked out while talking on her mobile phone.

Rishi followed her and then punched her right eye from behind, causing her to drop her keys and mobile phone.

He grabbed her neck, choking her and then rained multiple punches on her face.

She fell screaming in pain and he continued to punch her while pulling at her handbag and telling her to let go. She refused.

She then grabbed Rishi's groin causing him to let go of her.

She then took out a foldable umbrella from her bag and tried to hit him with it but he threw it aside.

He tried to snatch her handbag again but failed.

The victim held on to her handbag and tried to crawl towards the umbrella.

But Rishi kicked her, grabbed her keys from the floor and fled.

When the police arrived, they found the victim sitting against a wall at the lift lobby, bloodied and bruised with her blood splattered on the floor.

GLOVE

The police also found a bloodstained glove at the scene.

The victim sustained multiple facial fractures so severe she had to undergo surgery by the dental, oral and maxillofacial surgery team.

She also had to attend psychotherapy sessions.

Earlier that day, Rishi had stolen a bike glove at a multi-storey carpark and wore it to avoid leaving any fingerprints at crime scenes.

Before the assault, he had gone to a clothing store in Waterway Point and stole a black T-shirt, a pair of jogger pants and a pair of shoes by changing into the items before walking out.

Yesterday, Rishi pleaded guilty to offences including robbery with hurt, misappropriating an e-scooter worth $850 and drug offences.

District Judge Eddy Tham noted that Rishi had committed numerous offences despite his young age and said the attack was a heinous crime.

He also said it was shocking he could commit such an offence against an innocent victim.

He is expected to be sentenced on April 30.