Woman, 100, 'killed by bag snatcher'

Pic--Sofija Kaczan's neck was fractured when her handbag was snatched/bbc-wp
Crime watch(wp/bbc):::

A 100-year-old woman who died when her neck was broken in a bag snatch was a "vulnerable, easy target" for a man "desperate for money", a court heard.

Sofija Kaczan, who is originally from Poland, died on 6 June last year, more than a week after being attacked from behind in the Normanton area of Derby.

Artur Waszkiewicz, 40, of Wolfa Street in the city, denies manslaughter and robbery.

Derby Crown Court heard Ms Kaczan was attacked as she made her way to church.

Prosecutor Kate Brunner QC told the jury the attack happened near the victim's home in Empress Road, Normanton, on 28 May.

"Small, on her own, vulnerable, an easy target you might think for a man desperate for money," she said.

Ms Brunner said Mrs Kaczan told police she was attacked from behind by someone she did not see and hit on the back of the head or neck.

"She was knocked to the ground and her green handbag was taken from her arm," she added.

The force used in the attack was so great that a green handle on the victim's handbag was ripped off, the court was told.

Two NHS workers found Mrs Kaczan steadying herself on a nearby car and walked her to the nearby St Maximilian Kolbe Polish Catholic Church from where she was taken to hospital.

She died from pneumonia in hospital - a condition which would only have been brought on by the injuries sustained in the attack, jurors were told.

Ms Brunner said there was CCTV of Mrs Kaczan walking along Empress Road towards the junction of St Chad's Road, but no footage of the attack.

However, a reflection of a shape was caught on CCTV in the window of a house which the prosecution argues was the reflection of Mr Waszkiewicz leaving and going back to his car after the robbery.

The court heard that the green handbag was later recovered in nearby Moore Street, with no cash, but with Mr Waszkiewicz's fingerprint on a receipt.

The prosecution alleged that after the incident, the defendant changed his appearance and the insurance details of the car he was driving to distance himself from the attack.

The trial continues.

UK shoppers cautiously up their spending in January

Business reporter(wp/reuters):::
British consumers picked up the pace of their shopping in January which rose by the most in seven months, giving a bit of relief to retailers after their worst Christmas in a decade, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said its members reported total sales increased by an annual 2.2 percent, helped by higher spending on food and New Year price cutting.

“While retail discounts helped tempt cautious consumers, there is no guarantee this momentum will continue after the sales have finished,” BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.

“Furthermore, the risk of a disruptive no-deal Brexit could see these fortunes reversed.”

Prime Minister Theresa May wants European Union leaders to offer more concessions on Britain’s exit deal, less than two months to go before the country is due to leave the bloc.

The BRC said colder weather helped drive clothing sales.

British consumers have seen their spending power squeezed for much of the past 10 years although their wages have grown more quickly than inflation in recent months.

Reflecting the squeeze, sales of non-essentials fell again in the three months to January, the BRC said.

Separately on Tuesday, Barclaycard said its measure of consumer spending rose by 2.9 percent in annual terms, also quicker than December’s 1.8 percent rise.

Similar to the BRC, Barclaycard said the increase was driven mostly by spending on essentials which rose the most in five months, up 6.4 percent. Supermarket spending was up by 6.8 percent, the most since April 2017.

Supermarket groups Sainsbury’s and Morrisons both missed their Christmas sales forecasts. Sainsbury’s highlighted highly competitive and markets which were awash with discounts.

Barclaycard’s figures are based on credit and debit card spending between Dec. 23 and Jan. 19. The BRC data cover Dec. 30 to Jan. 26.

Construction booming in regional UK cities: Deloitte

Business reporter(wp/reuters):::

Construction activity in four regional cities in Britain is at a record high, including a flurry of building projects in Manchester, despite uncertainty about Brexit, accounting firm Deloitte said on Tuesday.

Deloitte said its Real Estate Crane Survey, covering Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Belfast, showed sustained or increased activity across sectors including offices, hotels, retail, education and student housing.

Manchester had 78 sites under construction — more than the U.S. cities of Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago as measured by Deloitte’s North American Crane Index.

“To have construction figures this healthy is somewhat of a surprise given a myriad of market uncertainties,” Deloitte Real Estate partner and regional head Simon Bedford said.

The Deloitte survey struck a more upbeat note than the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Purchasing Managers’ Index for the construction sector which on Monday showed the slowest growth in the industry in January since the winter weather of early 2018.

Bedford said big businesses were looking to build support operations in regional cities while small and medium-sized regional businesses were continuing to grow.