Feisty teen fights off knife attacker

SHE is 14-years-old and only 4ft 11in but feisty Pip Collins is not to be messed with.

The Barham teenager today told how she single-handedly fought off a knife-wielding mugger by getting him in a headlock, swinging a punch at him and holding the knife to his chest.

The Claydon High School student is now recovering at home and says her only regret is that she didn't get her stolen phone back.

Pip, who lives with her mum in Kirby Rise, said the drama had unfolded about 7pm on Easter Sunday as she waited for a bus home at Ipswich's Cattle Market bus station.

The crook approached her and asked to look at her mobile phone before snatching it from her hand and pushing her into the bus shelter.

Pip then launched an offensive on her attacker, turning the tables on him by grabbing his knife and holding it to his chest.

She said: “He pushed me into the bus stop and then I dived on him and got him in a head lock - I was scared though.

“I tried to punch him and I cut his nose with my ring.

“Then he pushed me and got out a knife. To start with I thought it was my phone and I knocked it out of his hand. We were both fighting on the floor scrabbling for it and I picked it up and realised it wasn't my phone.

“I put the knife to his chest and said 'give me my phone back' and then he legged it.”

The knife had a 4in blade and a serrated edge, but Pip said she is likely to have reacted in a similar manner even if she knew her attacker had a weapon.

She added: “I am pleased I had a go at him. I would have felt disappointed with myself if I had just let him take it.

“I probably would have reacted the same if I knew he had a knife, but would have been a bit more cautious.

“I was just so angry.”

Pip is not totally unscathed by her ordeal though, her parents Hayley and Garry Collins said she was badly shaken after the attack and the teenager is now reluctant to go into Ipswich alone.

Pip is also disappointed in how members of the public reacted when she shouted for assistance after the robbery.

She said: “I ran down the road and was shouting 'help, help' but everyone just looked away like they didn't want to get involved.”

Eventually Pip managed to persuade a woman to let her use her phone and she called police.

Pip's attacker is described as Asian, between 16 and 19, about 5ft 6in, with large moles on his face and was wearing a black knee length coat, a black beanie hat, black gloves, dark trousers and white trainers. Anyone with information should call Pc Helen Firman at Ipswich CID on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

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PIP Collin's parents today said they were proud of their daughter and relieved that she was OK.

The first Pip's mum Hayley knew of the attack was when she had to a call to say her daughter was in the back of a police car.

Pip had called police after the robbery and travelled in the back of the car to help them look for the attacker but with no success.

Ms Collins, 37, knew her daughter had been waiting for a bus in Ipswich and was expecting Pip home.

She said: “This has certainly given me some grey hairs.

“I am proud of her but glad she didn't get hurt as well.

“I feel guilty that I didn't pick her up but I knew she was waiting for a bus and it was day light.

“It is a shame that you can be in danger in the town in broad daylight.”

She said her daughter was “a bit of a tomboy” and had done some karate training but her response to her attack was not typical of the teenager.

She said Pip is not usually feisty although the teen's dad Garry added that she wouldn't let herself be pushed around.

The 45-year-old of Quentin Close, Ipswich said he is furious that the robber targeted his daughter.

He said: “It is just cowardice picking on someone her size. I am so annoyed and wound up.”