Ex-Apprentice star Frances Bishop appeals for help after NHS nurse mum-in-law mugged at knifepoint on way home from work
EX-Apprentice star Frances Bishop has appealed for help after her nurse mum-in-law was mugged at knifepoint.
NHS hero Gillian Bishop was rammed from her bike on Tuesday while travelling home from a shift at Queens Park Medical Centre in Stockton.
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Her business savvy daughter-in-law has called what happened "absolutely disgusting," asking anyone with information to come forward.
Frances, who is married to Gillian's son and Mansfield Town footballer Neal Bishop, wrote on Twitter: "Absolutely disgusting what’s happened to my Mother-In-Law yesterday. Neal is distraught.
The 2016 BBC Apprentice star added: "If anyone has any information please contact @ClevelandPolice @TeessideLive."
Users on Twitter were quick to respond, with one writing: "Absolutely appalling, I hope they catch the disgraceful culprit!"
Another commented: "Absolutely disgusting, I hope she's doing ok."
Gillian, from Hartburn in County Durham, was rammed from her bike after finishing her first shift back at the Queens Park Medical Centre in Stockton since recovering from .
The mugging happened shortly after 5pm, only half a mile into the 62-year-old healthcare assistant’s journey home.
Ms Bishop told : “I was riding home from work and a bike came behind mine and a bloke in a hoodie put his bike into mine and grabbed my handbag out of the basket on the front.
“I had everything in my bag – my purse and phone, my NHS keyworker letter for going back and forward to work and my works keys which have access to drug cupboards.
I was riding home from work and a bike came behind mine and a bloke in a hoodie put his bike into mine and grabbed my handbag out of the basket on the front.
Nurse Gillian Bishop
The nurse bravely followed the thief, and approached him to try and get her possessions back.
Ms Bishop said the man told her: “Come closer and I’ll stab you.”
She added: “He had his hand in his jacket pocket and I saw a flash of orange – but didn’t actually see a blade – and he said that he would knife me if I went any closer.”
Ms Bishop said she was distraught to find that her debit card had later been used at a convenience shop near the local train station, and she took the next day off work.
The frontline worker had been suffering from coronavirus symptoms for over two weeks before the mugging.
She said that she “slept for three days solid” and that her temperature was “reluctant to come down”.
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There have been numerous reports of incidents involving frontline NHS workers and police officers since the coronavirus lockdown began.
At a hospital in Bolton earlier this month, a woman allegedly punched a nurse and spat at two security guards.
A 58-year-old woman was charged with three counts of assaulting emergency services workers after the incident at the Royal Bolton Hospital.
Greater Manchester Police said: “On Saturday, April 4, police were called to the Royal Bolton Hospital to report that a member of the public had punched a nurse and spat at two security guards.”
They added: “She has been remanded in police custody until the next available court”.
Meanwhile, an NHS worker was attacked for her ID badge as she did her food shop at a Grimsby supermarket.
The Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust slammed her attacker for the crime, saying they “should be ashamed.”
Another NHS worker, Sama Shali, 33, was spat at in the face twice by a man as she walked home after a 10-hour shift.
Sama, who works in medicine management at The Christie Hospital in Manchester, was walking to a nearby tram station when she was targeted.
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There have been 98,476 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, and 12,868 people have died.
The government has said that people should not leave their homes during the lockdown unless to buy food, for medical reasons, or to go to work if unable to work from home.
The nationwide lockdown is expected to be officially extended by a further three weeks tomorrow.
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