A HEARTBROKEN pensioner today said he blamed the junkie who mugged his wife of 45 years for her death seven months later.

Harry Hindle, 70, of Audley, spoke out after Colin Bray, 18, of no fixed address, was given four-and-a-half years in youth custody for robbing Ellen, 71.

Mr Hindle said his wife never recovered from the trauma of being mugged as she left St Joseph's RC Church, Audley Range, at 9.15am on May 26.

He said she was a "nervous wreck" before she died of a blocked artery, a condition worsened by stress, on January 2, the day before her birthday.

Mrs Hindle, a devout Roman Catholic, had been lighting a candle for her daughter who was undergoing a major operation.

Bray waited for her to leave then pushed her face-first into the floor.

He snatched her handbag, containing £15 which he used to buy heroin.

Mrs Hindle had two black eyes, a nose bleed and her dentures were snapped.

She spoke to the Evening Telegraph after her ordeal and said she would try to not let it affect her life.

But Mr Hindle revealed: "She kept saying she was okay but she wasn't. She was scared of going out.

"I had to do everything for her, even make phone calls.

She was a nervous wreck.

"I think the robbery brought on her health problems. It definitely contributed.

It has been terrible. She was a marvellous person."

And Mr Hindle, who has now got a border collie puppy named Judy for company and was comforted by his three sons, daughter and six grandchildren, felt Bray's sentence was not enough.

He added: "The sentence is cheap really. I think they should bring back the birch to act as a deterrent."

During sentencing, Preston Crown Court heard Bray, just 17 at the time of the mugging, had 13 previous convictions, including for robbery in 2003 when he pushed a women to the ground and stole her bag.

Sergeant Duncan Whitehead said: "It was a despicable attack. I visited the family on several occasions and you could tell she was very wary of going out and had really become housebound.

"I do feel Colin Bray, with his previous convictions, has got away extremely lightly."