Notorious Convicted female pick pocket taunted judge who jailed her 'I'll be back
Callous Margaret Johnson, 40, stole treasured glass eye of mum's dead son in latest theft
Birmingham's most notorious pickpocket had warned a judge who jailed her: “I'll be back.”
Margaret Johnson, 40, has clocked up more than 150 convictions in her criminal career, which has seen her mainly target elderly shoppers.
She was jailed earlier this month for two and a half years after admitting six theft charges.
One of her victims was a grandma whose handbag she snatched as she was shopping in Aldi at Tile Cross with her Down's Syndrome grandson.
Pickpocket Queen's elderly victim in desperate appeal to find dead son's glass eye
The Beatties bag contained the precious glass eye of her dead son Lyndon - a personal possession the mum had carried everywhere since his death in the 1980s.
Yet the elderly victim revealed Johnson showed no remorse after being caught and instead goaded the judge who jailed her - by making reference to the chilling catchphrase from The Terminator movie.
The former nurse, from Marston Green, said: “A police officer said she told the judge 'I'll be back ' as he jailed her.
“She thinks she is Arnold Schwarzenegger or something. She is a dreadful woman.
“The terrible thing is she will serve just a year in jail and will then be back out on the streets committing the same kind of offences again.”
After being told about the glass eye, Johnson had told police she had left the Beatties handbag on a bus.
'Pickpocket Queen' BANNED from Poundland and other stores - for stealing pensioner's GLASS EYE
Her victim, a retired nurse, only realised her handbag had been stolen when she reached the till. It contained cash, bank cards and the precious glass eye of her late son, Lyndon - who had died aged 17 in a car crash in the 1980s.
She said: “I just started to cry.
“Lyndon suffered from glaucoma as a child and lost his eye. He was my eldest son and died in a car crash in the 1980s.
“The glass eye was a reminder of him for me and I carried it everywhere, even on holidays and I kept it under my pillow in bed at night.
“I just want it back, I'm not bothered about the other stuff. This has nearly killed me.”
It is understood Johnson may have caught the Number 97 into the city centre from the Tile Cross area between 5pm and 7pm on February 4.
*Do you know anything about the handbag theft? If so, contact jeanette.oldham@trinitymirror.com or police on 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
