British police launch murder hunt in London

A murder hunt was under way in London today after a woman who chased two handbag thieves was run over and killed by their getaway car.

The 43-year-old woman had been sitting in a cafe in London’s Euston station with her husband when her bag was snatched.

She gave chase and clung to the bonnet of the thieves’ car before slipping under its wheels in front of horrified passers-by.

She was flown by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, where she died despite three hours of emergency surgery.

Police praised the woman for her bravery and described the incident as ‘‘horrifying and appalling’’.

Big Issue seller Martin Johnson, 20, was on his way to work outside Euston Station when he witnessed the incident at 9am yesterday.

He said: ‘‘I saw a white Ford Fiesta coming up the road at a speed of between 40 and 50 mph.

‘‘There was a woman hanging on the bonnet of the car.

"The car stopped at traffic lights. The woman must have been hanging on the bonnet for about half a minute until she actually fell off,’’ he said.

He said the car reversed at full speed then stopped to avoid colliding with a bus.

Mr Johnson heard the woman shout to the bus driver: ‘‘Look what’s happening, look what’s happening.’’

He continued: ‘‘The car then went full speed ahead and the woman’s legs were now dangling over the front.

‘‘She lost her grip and the car went over her. I heard a thudding noise and screams.’’

Mr Johnson said that when she slipped off, the two front wheels of the car both went over her body before it sped off.

The woman, who was from west London and had no children, had been waiting with her husband to board a train to visit relatives in the north of England, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

She chased the thieves from the coffee shop on the station concourse into Eversholt Street, where they leapt into the Ford Fiesta.

The car was later found abandoned in nearby Endsleigh Street, just south of the Euston Road.

Two firemen arriving for their shift at Euston fire station saw the incident and tried to administer first aid.

Station commander Bill Carruthers said: ‘‘The car reversed about 40 metres up the road and the woman fell off the bonnet onto the road.

‘‘Then the car drove forward over her. Our two guys raced over and tried to give her first aid.’’

One of the firemen, a 33-year-old who did not want to be named, tried to stop the car by hurling his helmet at the car’s windscreen, cracking it, as it sped away. He said: ‘‘I was so angry. We were both in utter disbelief."

His 38-year-old colleague added: ‘‘We just felt real anger at what we were seeing. Now we feel nothing but sympathy for the poor woman and her family. It was terrible.’’

Detective Inspector Martin Lee described the crime as ‘‘horrifying and appalling’’ and said: ‘‘This woman showed bravery in the face of theft.’’

Police were searching the area around the station for the suspects, who it is understood, are known to the police.