Ex-Apprentice star Frances Bishop appeals for help after NHS nurse mum-in-law mugged at knifepoint on way home from work

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.

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.

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.