Self-defence in the News - No. 119

Perth woman uses army self-defence to fight off teens

Oct 08, 2022

Di, a 70-year-old woman from Perth was ambushed by teenagers who wanted her cigarettes.

A 70-year-old woman has fought off two would-be thieves after they ambushed her for cigarettes as she sat alone on the verandah of her home in Australia.

 

"They went, 'if you don't give it to us we're going to hurt you'," Di told 9News in Perth.

 

The retiree, who relies on a walking frame, was punched in the face but she managed to land two blows of her own.

 

When she refused to hand over the cigarettes, one of the teenagers lunged.

 

Di, a former clinical nurse, leapt into action, using self-defence she learnt in the army.

 

"The next thing I knew I got punched in the face and that came so quick I didn't have a chance to do anything," the 70-year-old said.

 

"But the second one I was ready for and I blocked that.

 

She managed to wind her attacker before taking on his accomplice.

 

"The other one came at me and he had his arms up covering his torso so I couldn't do the same thing and I just kicked out and hit him hard in the scrotum."

 

Battered and bruised, the duo ran away along Throssell Street but in the dark, CCTV didn't manage to capture the pair as they fled.

 

"I didn't expect I would do anything. It absolutely shocked me when I got so enraged and thought I'm not standing for this."

 

After the pair left, an exhausted Di fell, hitting her head on the verandah, where she lay unconscious before crawling to her mobile phone and calling for help.

 

The incident, which left Di's face bruised and swollen, happened just after 11pm on Wednesday (local time).

 

"It was only six cigarettes and the police said to me, 'you should of just given it to them and they would have gone away', but that wasn't the point," she said.

 

Even as Australian detectives continue to hunt the teens, the retiree says she refuses to live in fear.

Di was attacked by two teenage boys, but she managed to land a few blows of her own.