took the stand in Magistrate's Court this week.

James and Peggy Richardson of Cheshire England returned to Bermuda to give evidence against the alleged handbag snatcher, 31-year-old George Glenwood Brown of Stovell Bay Road in Pembroke.

Brown has denied attempting to steal a handbag which included a purse, credit cards and a $100 in cash, which had a total value of $175 on May 30 this year and wilfully and knowingly making a false report to Police.

James Richardson 56, told the court that at 11 p.m. on May 30 he and his wife had finished having dinner at the Lobster Pot and went for a walk along Woodbourne Avenue.

"As we were near the end of Woodbourne Avenue a man on a motorcycle came towards us in the opposite direction,'' James Richardson said.

He added: "My wife was walking on the inside between me and the hedge. The bike pulled over and the man asked my wife the time.

"I then heard my wife shout `he's got my bag'. As soon as she shouted, the bike started pulling away. I turned and before the bike got some speed I grabbed the back rack and pulled the man off.'' James Richardson also said that after taking hold of the bike, he pulled the man onto the ground.

"The woman tried to get up and he got back on the bike but I got up off the ground and pulled the man off again and he threw the bag away,'' James Richardson said.

He added: "I still had hold of the motorbike and I grabbed him as well and pushed him up against a wall.

"A taxi came around the corner and I shouted to my wife to get the Police.'' James Richardson also said that the man shouted to him to let him go because "he had done them no harm''.

"My wife also shouted at me to let the man go. She told me it wasn't worth it. I concentrated on holding the bike and the man ran off,'' James Richardson said. "He seemed terrified.'' He added that the Police came soon after the incident and drove him and his wife around the area looking for the man.

James Richardson said that his actions were automatic. "In England they tell us to not to get involved.'' When asked by Brown's lawyer Mr. Larry Scott to identify the man that night James Richardson said he was brown and when asked to describe the colour of the accused he said "having been in South Africa I'd call the accused coloured''. He then pointed to George Brown and said he was the man who tried to snatch his wife's handbag.

James Richardson also said that he received road rash to his arm and ankle which he had to be treated at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for.

"I was at the hospital from after 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. and did not get any treatment, so I had to go back later that day which ruined the last day of my holiday,'' James Richardson said.

Peggy Richardson told the court that the lighting on that night was sufficient.

She also said that she stared the man, which she also identified to be George Brown, right in the face, getting a good look at who he was.

The trial continues before Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis on January 17. Police prosecutor is Sgt. Kenrick James.