A blind woman who was taken advantage of by a Big Issue seller who stole £50 from her said she has forgiven the thief.

She also said she rediscovered her faith in humanity following the theft after a series of kind acts in the wake of the incident.

Sutton woman Jane Phillips, 66, is totally blind but still usually gave money to Big Issue seller Razvan Dumitru outside Morrison's in Sutton town centre despite not being able to read the magazine.

As Miss Phillips went to give Dumitru some money on Saturday, November 30, he reached in and swiped £50 form her purse. Passers-by saw the incident and Dumitru was apprehended. Police arrived and found the stolen notes hidden in the pages of his magazines.

Homeless Romanian Dumitru, 22, admitted theft in front of Croydon magistrates on December 2 and has been remanded in custody pending sentence.

Despite the deplorable act, Miss Phillips, who lives with her identical twin sister Mary in Benhill Wood Road, said she has forgiven Dumitru for his crime and rediscovered her faith in humanity after Morrison's gave her £200 in vouchers as a present and other people including her sister rallied around her.

Miss Phillips said: "[After it happened] I wasn't feeling well for a few days. I felt a bit tired, a bit sad that someone would do that.

"I suppose it did make me lose faith in human nature but after it happened so many people were kind to me that I started to feel that he's just one bad person among a lot of good people.

"I have forgiven him but I still feel like he should say sorry to me. If I met him again I'd just say to him that I hope he regrets what he did."

Detective Constable Lee Blunden, who investigated the case, presented Miss Phillips with her Morrison's vouchers last week. On receiving the gift, miss Phillips said: "I've got tears in my eyes. I never expected anything like this. Everyone has just been so kind.

"My sister said I've been really brave and bought me a lovely musical box and our neighbours invited us for a meal."

Miss Phillips said she would spend some of the money on buying food for Christmas.