A TEENAGER accused of mugging an 81-year-old woman has been released on bail.

The boy, 15, from the Meadowcroft area of Swindon, has been charged with robbery after Jeanette Maltby was knocked to the ground and her bag stolen at 1.45pm in Walcot on February 18.

The pensioner, who uses a walking stick, was left unconscious on a footpath at the junction of Somerville Road and Essex Walk. She had been shopping at Sussex Square in Walcot.

Her greyish-green canvas shopping bag, containing nearly £300 which was her pension for two weeks, £600 she had saved for a new fridge/freezer and an Only Fools and Horses DVD she had just bought for her son were taken.

The victim spent four weeks in hospital after the attack and has lost 4st in weight since the ordeal.

The boy, who was arrested on Sunday, will return to Swindon Magistrates Court on Wednesday, June 22.

The bail was on the conditions that he observes a 7pm-7am curfew and lives and sleeps at his home address.