Police have issued a CCTV appeal after a nun was dragged under her car by a thief.
At around 10.05am on April 11, police received a report that a blue Hyundai had been stolen from outside Booker Avenue Post Office on Holmfield Road in Allerton. Sister Louise Gilbey had parked her car on Holmfield Road and briefly left her vehicle to post a letter. An unknown man then got into the car.
CCTV shows Sr. Louise rushing back to the Hyundai, where she opens the car door and reaches in to tackle the thief. At this point the car reverses, dragging her along the gutter and under the driver's door.
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After hitting the car parked behind it, the Hyundai drives away, narrowly avoiding Sr. Louise, who was seen lying at the side of the road. Police said the victim did not report any injuries.
Speaking to the ECHO earlier this month, Sr. Louise said her concern was not for her own safety, but wanted to retrieve the car back from the thief. She describes her car as a "lifeline" for her work with the ministry, she uses the vehicle mainly to visit elderly housebound parishioners.
Sister Louise had worked as an NHS nurse and midwife for many years in Liverpool, moving on to a nurse-manager at Marymount Nursing Home on North Mossley Hill Road. She visits the elderly parishioners, and brings them Holy Communion each week, as a comfort in their faith to those who can no longer attend mass.
Sr. Louise, originally from Ireland, told the ECHO: "I have lived in Liverpool for so long, I've been a midwife in Fazakerley as well as being a nurse in other establishments. People say that crime can be bad in the city, but I have seen the other side of it, and I have always thought about how kind the people in this city are.
"I blame myself for this, forgetting for a brief moment that I had left the keys in the car. This car is my lifeline, I wasn't thinking, I was just desperate to save it."
She added: "I don't wish him any harm, I just hope he doesn't use the car to hurt anyone, it could have been a lot worse for me. I would love him to find a different way of life, he can't be happy having to do stuff like that.
"There are so many programmes that could help this man to live a decent life. No mother wants their child to be like that, you want them to be good, you aren't brought into the world to act in such a way, it would be wonderful to find him the help he needs to live a better life."
Officers attended and searched the area following the incident but the vehicle could not be located. Witness enquiries have been carried out and police have now issued a CCTV image of a man we would like to speak to as we believe he could assist our investigation.
Sergeant Michael Fletcher said: "Although some of the footage is grainy we believe that there is someone out there who would recognise the man pictured. I would ask anyone who recognises him or has any information which could assist our investigation to contact us as matter of urgency.”
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook with reference 22000247479.
You can also call 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111, or their online form here. You can view information on preventing vehicle theft online here.
