Nurse subjected to horror attack outside hospital

Lorna Hobson, 65, who was on her way home after a shift, said she thought she was going to die during the beating by the two thugs and said the attack left her in agony on the ground.

The pair ran off with her handbag, while Mrs Hobson was left with injuries all over her body, including deep bruises on her face and across her ribs.

“It was obvious I was a nurse. I feel angry they didn’t see my uniform. I was wearing a big coat with NHS written on it but that didn’t make any difference to these two men,” she said.

“They didn’t have any respect for me or my uniform. I just find it so hard to comprehend. I am still in a lot of pain and I am still traumatised, I still can’t believe it happened to me.”

Mrs Hobson, a health care assistant for the hospital’s evening and night service was attacked on December 28 at around 10pm after she had finished a four-hour evening shift at the hospital.

The married mother of three, who has five grandchildren, said she had been a nurse for 22 years and added: “We’d had a lovely evening, we had cut up the Christmas cake and had a nice time. I was really happy when I left.”

She walked from the hospital in Fir Vale to the bus stop at the junction of Herries Road and Norwood Road where she waited for the number 87 to take her to her home in Lowedges.

“I walked down the path to the bus stop and I stood inside the bus shelter which is brightly lit. I noticed two youths across the road, they passed me and they must have come up behind me,” she said.

“One of them said something about the time. I remember looking at my watch and then they jumped on me and grabbed my bag. I screamed and they punched me full in the face.

“They dragged me out of the shelter and up a gravel path which nearby. I was screaming it was dark and I couldn’t see anything. I just remember screaming and the kicks the punches and the stamping.”

Mrs Hobson said the robbers left possibly because they had been disturbed but then amazingly came back to continue the assault.

She added: “I remember lying on the ground and thinking ‘they’ve gone I’m safe and I’m alive’ but then I saw them coming back and they started it all over again.

“I thought it was going to be the end and they were going to kill me.”

The beating finally stopped when a woman passer by intervened. The muggers fled with Mrs Hobson’s shoulder bag which had her purse containing £60 and her house keys along with medical paperwork.

The rescuer helped Mrs Hobson to her feet and took her back to the Northern General’s casualty department. She added: “After all that it’s all a bit of a blur.

“I remember thinking ‘I hope my patients notes are safe’ I don’t feel I hate the people who hurt me, but for 22 years I have been a nurse and I have avoided anything happening to me. I doubt very much that I will be going back to work.”

The attack on Mrs Hobson happened just four days after church organist Alan Greaves, 68, was beaten in High Green, Sheffield, as he was on his way to midnight mass. He died on December 28 from his injuries.

Detectives investigating the incident on Mrs Hobson said the two men who attacked her are described as being between 16 and 20. They were both around 6ft tall, with dark complexions and a skinny build.

One of them was wearing grey jogging bottoms and a dark top.

Anyone with information about their identity should contact police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.