Millie kershaw still finds herself looking over her shoulder a year after the thug who attacked her was jailed.

The 94-year-old is frightened someone will knock her down and rob her again.

The crime against Millie shocked Sussex.

Frail and defenceless, she was tottering to her Brighton home with her shopping when she was thrown to the ground by a drug addict.

Millie's hip and wrist were shattered and doctors feared she would not survive.

In her bag were £2, a bottle of wine, a bunch of cherries, potatoes and a copy of The Argus. This was Andrew Bowcott's haul.

But Millie, a great-grandmother, battled through the pain to see the thug who robbed her sent to prison.

Bowcott, 39, found guilty of robbery after a three-day trial at Lewes Crown Court, was locked up for eight years.

Sitting at Millie's side in court was his second elderly victim. Pamela Still, 73, still suffers the effects of Bowcott's violence.

A retired nursing sister at Brighton General Hospital, she was on her doorstep in Hove after collecting her pension when Bowcott struck.

He grabbed her and hurled her to the floor, breaking her shoulder and leg. She had two operations. Horrified witnesses gave chase and collared Bowcott before the police arrived.

Despite being caught carrying out this second attack in January, which he admitted, Bowcott maintained he was innocent of mugging Mrs Kershaw the previous May. It was only when his ex-girlfriend Victoria Bedford, 25, called police that the case could go to court.

Today, Millie said she was still surprised by the length of sentence handed to Bowcott.

She said: "People get mugged all the time but their attackers don't usually get that length of sentence. I was quite surprised."

At the time of the sentence, Millie said: "This is a long sentence but I don't think he should have done what he did."

She had no sympathy for Bowcott's heroin addiction, saying: "You should not start on drugs and then you would not have that problem."

Detective Chief Inspector Martyn Underhill described Bowcott, who was living in a van in Preston Park, Brighton, at the time, as extremely dangerous, adding: "It was a disgusting offence."

Today, Millie has someone to clean her home and family members visit to take her shopping.

She said: "I have to have someone with me when I go out and I still keep looking around, thinking someone may come up and knock me down. It has scarred me and I don't think I will ever get over it."

Detective Sergeant Pete Smith, one of the officers involved in the case, said: "Millie is a delightful lady - the bravest I have ever met."