Grandmother eating from straw after violent bag snatch at Cottesloe Beach

UPDATE

Fremantle Detectives have charged a 22-year-old Collie man with one count of aggravated robbery and grievous bodily harm.

He will appear in the Bunbury Magistrates Court this afternoon.

THE daughter of an Iranian grandmother (59) has told how her mother is unable to eat or sleep properly after a violent bag snatch left her unconscious with a broken jaw at Cottesloe Beach last Tuesday.

“You don’t hit ladies in the street,” the daughter translated for her mother yesterday..

The daughter said her mother now had two breaks in her jaw and a fracture to her cheek.

She said her mother was in constant pain and would not return to her house because she feared the injuries and bruising would scare her grandchildren.

The grandmother is eating through a straw and is unable to turn over when sleeping, having to constantly lie on her back in bed.

“She’s really depressed. She’s sad. She came here for a bit of a holiday. She doesn’t want to leave the house. She doesn’t want to be around anybody,” the daughter said.

The grandmother had walked from her nearby son’s home to a seating platform on a grass terrace overlooking the beach, and was playing games on her iPad from about 4.30pm on the day of the attack.

About an hour later she was approached by a man who she refused to give a cigarette to because he looked underage.

“And the next minute there was a shadow over the top of her, on top of her head, and someone said excuse me to get her attention, and a soon as she looked up she felt like someone had hit her with a object,” the daughter said.

In translation, the grandmother said she thought she was hit by an object and not a fist.

She was treated initially by nearby surf lifesavers, before being taken by St John Ambulance to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, from where she was released the following day.

The robbers took her handbag, iPad, and mobile phone, which she said was the only thing she wanted returned because it held family photographs.

Overnight, police have detained two men who are assisting with their inquiries into the robbery.

Call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online if you have information about the incident.