Remembrance Day: Thief steals grandmother's handbag as she puts poppies on her war hero father's grave

The callous crook seized an opportunity to strike at Dudley Cemetery, snatching the bag from the passenger footwell of Rita Herrington's car as she knelt at the grave to lay a Remembrance Cross just a few yards away.

Her husband Terry attempted to give chase after noticing the valuable Michael Kors bag had been stolen but tripped and hit his face on the ground, cutting his nose and hands.

The elderly couple were left shaken after the graveyard attack, which happened at around 3pm on Friday - just four hours after the nation had paused to remember the fallen.

The grandparents had parked up at the Stourbridge Road cemetery so Mrs Herrington, aged 75, could put a Remembrance Cross and poppies on the grave of her father, Fred Russon, who fought in the First World War. He survived the war and died at the age of 69.

Their silver Vauxhall Meriva was left unlocked as they saw nobody around and were only stopping for a few minutes a short distance away.

But a short time later, Mr Herrington, 79, turned around to see a man, thought to be in his late teens or early 20s, running off with a bag towards a dark blue car.

The bag contained bank cards, a small amount of change and photographs of their daughters.

Mr Herrington said: "We're normally very careful but there was nobody in the graveyard. I didn't hear anything.

"We were at the graveyard three yards from the car. We had just got out to stick a cross in and put poppies down. We would have been off a minute after it happened. They were opportunistic people.

"I happened to turn and saw this figure grabbing my wife's bag. I ran after him but tripped and fell and banged my face and arms. Once I had fallen they had gone."

The couple, who live near Wombourne, quickly had their locks changed as their house keys were in the bag.

Retired bank clerk Mrs Herrington said: "I was more emotionally shaken than Terry. I had to take some deep breaths. It took me until the evening to calm down.

"They are the lowest of the low. I was blaming myself for what I had done. I'm always telling Terry to make sure the car is locked.

"But I thought 'crikey, what if it had been on me?'. They would have just lashed out at us. It could have been a lot worse."

The couple, who have two grandchildren, were escorted home by police. The West Midlands force has launched an investigation and will be trawling CCTV in the area.

Mr Herrington, who worked as an engineer for almost 50 years at Smiths Aerospace in Wolverhampton, said he was disgusted that someone could target an elderly couple in a cemetery on Remembrance Day.

He said: "People like that are scum of the earth to me. I imagine it's something they have done before. I get the impression they have driven round the cemetery and saw the opportunity was there."