A BRUTAL mugger who preyed on mothers is behind bars this week, but vulnerable woman are still being terrorised

Tan Parsons

A BRUTAL mugger who preyed on mothers is behind bars this week, but vulnerable woman are still being terrorised.

Kevin Nevers, 41, was given a life sentence last Friday after he violently robbed nine women - most of whom were pregnant or had children with them - for their wedding rings and jewellery.

His campaign of terror between June 2005 and July 2006 saw women attacked at addresses including Frognal Way, Ellerdale Road, King Henry's Road and Parkhill Road.

But even though Nevers, from Warham Road in Harringay, is not eligible for parole for five and a half years, there was a chilling reminder of his brutal series of robberies as another mum was attacked last Thursday.

Returning home with her daughter from school, masked robbers pinned her to the ground and tried to rip out her earrings on her doorstep.

During the ordeal her daughter tried to defend her mother by hitting one of the robbers with her lunchbox.

"I got out of the car and opened the boot to get the bag out. Standing right by the steps were these two guys - they looked exactly the same, like they were in the SAS. We thought it was a joke," said the Highgate mum, who asked not to be named.

The men wore identical black outfits with hooded jackets, balaclavas and string gloves. They ran towards the woman and grabbed her from behind, putting a hand over her mouth.

"First he tried to pull out my earrings which left me with a little cut on my ear," she said. "Then they went for my wrist watch. Next they went for my bag and keys, which I was holding onto - it was like a tug of war. They only said one thing to us - 'We don't want to hurt you'.

"My daughter is a brave little girl and started hitting one of the men with her lunchbox. The one who was holding me must have had a lot of bite marks because I kept biting him on the hand and wrist. I bit him bloody hard."

Before the robbers could take anything two men came to the rescue - a private security guard from nearby Fitzroy Park and Marks and Spencer's director of marketing Steve Sharp who lives nearby.

Highgate police's Safer Neighbourhoods Team discussed the horrific attack at its panel meeting on Monday. Witnesses are now being urged to come forward.

The attack was reminiscent of Nevers' reign of terror. He would grab victims around the throat from behind, pinning them to the ground before stripping their jewellery.

In one of the most brutal of his robberies, the victim, who had just returned from her honeymoon, suffered a dislocated jaw and can no longer close her mouth properly.

Sentencing Nevers at Snaresbrook Crown Court, His Honour Judge Inigo Bing said: "The area where these nine robberies took place should be the safest and quietest in London in the late afternoon or early evening. You avoided places where CCTV cameras were in operation and you struck swiftly and with accomplished ferocity.

"So long as you got away with a ring you did not care if your victim was with child or children or obviously pregnant. Indeed, I consider you deliberately and callously picked out such people knowing they were least likely to be able to resist your violent endeavours."

One of the key witnesses in the trial was Sarah Bordash, who identified Nevers after she was attacked.

Judge Bing said: "Mrs Bordash was an exceptionally brave American woman who despite being terrified for the life of her unborn child - she was seven months pregnant at the time when you threatened to stab her - she managed to remember your face and subsequently identified you."

tan.parsons@hamhigh.co.uk