Girl shot for mobile tells of ordeal

The student was left bleeding on the pavement

A teenager who was shot in the head for her mobile phone has told how she fought back against her attacker.

The 19-year-old, who asked not to be named, described how she was shot at point blank range in east London, after she swung her handbag at the robber's head.

She was speaking for the first time about how she narrowly escaped death by moving her head when confronted by the robber at 1730GMT on New Year's Day.

He shot me, gangster-style with his hand twisted to the side like it was a movie

Victim

The Asian student had started to walk faster after she spotted a man following her along Lea Bridge Road, in Walhamstow.

She was stopped by the robber who demanded her Nokia 3310 phone.

"I shouted for my friend and he pulled the phone from me," she said.

"I took my bag, which had a soft drink bottle in it, and hit him over the head. I think he was shocked that a girl would fight back.

Scar

"I think he was hurt, or at least stunned, because he crouched down and his arms were around his head.

"Then he shot me, gangster-style with his hand twisted to the side like it was a movie", she said.

But it was her reflex actions which she believed saved her life.

Police have issued an e-fit of a man they want to question

"I moved my head at that instant and that probably is the only reason why I'm alive."

She has a scar on her hairline where the bullet grazed her head and she suffered headaches for a month after the attack.

Police are appealing for information and believe that the gunman would have boasted to a girlfriend or someone else about his crime.

He is described as 5ft 6ins tall, with moles on his face and was wearing a black skull cap, silver bracelet and a dark top and trousers.

There have been no arrests so far.

An e-fit picture has already been released of a man sought in connection with the shooting.