TEENAGER’S PHONE BOX ROBBERY ORDEAL

Eighteen-year-old Tammy-Jo Corbett has thanked a good samaritan for helping her following the incident at Old Warren.

She was making a call at a public box when a stranger trapped her inside.

A woman walking her dog scared the man off.

Tammy-Jo was just seconds from her home when the incident occurred around 10.35pm. Her sister-in-law had been visiting her and she wanted to ring her a taxi home to the Low Road.

She had just been in the box for a minute when she saw a man wearing a hoodie standing at the door with his foot under the door and his hand on the handle trapping her inside.

He started shouting at her and calling her names, which shocked her to the core. He then demanded money from her. Frightened at what he might do she just kept telling him that she had no money and she wanted out.

Tammy Jo said that she had only moved into her new home with her boyfriend a month ago and had never seen the man before.

“All he seemed to be doing was shouting and swearing at me,” she said. “I had no idea who he was. I was really scared. I tried to push the door open but he had me trapped inside. I could not open it. His hand was at the door and his foot was at the bottom of the door. I was totally trapped.

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“I just told him I don’t have any money. Anyone should know I am a woman on my own using a phone box it was obvious I was using a phone box of course I had no money. I tried to push the door open.

“I really did not know what he was going to do. I knew I was trapped in the phone box but really scared. I just kept telling him I have no money. I just kept saying just let me out. He just kept saying give me your money, give me your money.”

A woman who was walking her dog saw what was happening and shouted ‘hey boy’. He then ran off as the woman approached Tammy Jo to find out how she was.

The woman walked Tammy-Jo home and asked if she was alright.

“She was great I don’t know what I would have done without her,” she said. “I really appreciate her help and intervention. She walked me up to the front garden. I just wanted to get into the house.

“I would love her to come forward and just thank her. It was really good what she did. It was amazing. I could have been mugged, stabbed or raped or anything if she had not been there. I am really thankful that she was there. I did not get her name she might have seen him and got a better picture of him.”

She said that when she returned home it was her mother who persuaded her to ring the police.

“My mum said that it would at least alert women that this man is in the area,” she said. “I would not like this to happen to anyone else.”

Tammy Jo said that the experience has scarred her.

“I cannot sleep at night,” she said. “If I go upstairs I have to ask my boyfriend to go upstairs too. I don’t like to go out alone and if I am at home I get a friend to come round.”

The police carried out house-to-house enquiries.

The man is described as being approximately 25 years old, about 5’4” tall, of slim build and he had dark skin and was wearing a hoodie.

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact Lisburn Police Station on 0845 600 8000. Or if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details, they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111.