On the evening of January 15th, 2009, eighty-one-year-old Molly Morgan, a retired architect and active community volunteer, was brutally mugged on Streatfield Road, Harrow, London. On her way to a lecture at Kenton Library titled Buildings of London, Molly was attacked from behind at approximately seven forty p.m. Her attacker snatched her brown leather handbag so forcefully that she tumbled to the pavement, suffering a subdural hematoma, a broken left arm, and multiple facial fractures.
Despite pleas for help, Molly lay injured on the pavement for around ten minutes, as onlookers—mistaking her for being drunk—faltered in offering assistance. She was rushed to Northwick Park Hospital, where she succumbed to her head injuries the following day.
CCTV footage that captured Molly visiting a Morrisons supermarket on Honeypot Lane earlier that day was released by police to jog witness memories.
Witnesses reported seeing two young men sprinting up Streatfield Road toward the library immediately after the attack. Additionally, a man in gray tracksuit bottoms was observed walking ahead of Molly just before the incident.
Molly’s handbag—containing only a plastic Sainsbury’s bag, a Primark umbrella, and an electrical extension lead—was found discarded on Northwick Avenue at nine p.m. that night. The umbrella and carrier bag were never recovered, though the cable was later found nearby.
In July 2010, four men aged between nineteen and twenty-two were arrested in connection with the mugging but were released without charge. To renew public engagement, the Metropolitan Police reinstated a £20,000 reward in 2015 and again in 2019, hoping that changing loyalties might bring forward previously silent witnesses.
Molly was well‑regarded in her community: an avid gardener, a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a volunteer with the Workers’ Educational Association. Her death, over an essentially “worthless” handbag, sparked outrage and sorrow across Harrow.
As of June 2025, the case remains unresolved.
Crime Immemorial 