War journalist mugged
in London street
January 7, 2002
County Durham war journalist Yvonne Ridley has had to postpone her return to Afghanistan after having her passport stolen in a mugging in London.
The 43-year-old Sunday Express reporter who survived unscathed during ten days of captivity with the Taliban was kicked and punched as she tried to fight off her attacker in a London street.
A man struck her on the head and tried to take her handbag but she fought back, screaming in his face to frighten him off. The mugger then kicked and punched Ms Ridley as she lay on the ground, before making off with her bag containing around £15, her passport, credit cards and papers.
She was left feeling shaken and with a bruised arm, but otherwise unhurt.
Last night, Ms Ridley said: 'I'm a walking crime statistic. In the last six years since I came to London, I've had five car break-ins and two burglaries.
'I've been mugged twice, had two attempted thefts from my bag and had my purse stolen.
'This wouldn't happen in Newcastle.'
Ms Ridley said she was disappointed that none of the several witnesses to the latest mugging did anything to help.
Ms Ridley's mother Joyce, 74, of West Pelton, near Beamish, said: 'Yvonne seems to attract trouble.'
Ms Ridley's daughter Daisy, nine, was staying with her grandparents at the time.
October 9, 2001
Journalist Yvonne Ridley has been freed by her Taliban captors in Afghanistan and her family in County Durham hope to have her home by the weekend.
Yvonne's mother Joyce, 74, pictured left, who lives in West Pelton near Beamish, said: 'We had a bottle of champagne last night. And I'm sure we will have a magnum when she comes home.'
Yvonne telephoned her parents from Pakistan last night to say she was well and had been treated with courtesy and respect by the Taliban. She said she was 'desperate' to get home to see her nine-year-old daughter Daisy. She also told her mother she had written notes about her experiences on scraps of cardboard and bits of matchboxes.
The Sunday Express journalist revealed she was on hunger strike throughout her 11 days in captivity because she had been refused access to a telephone.
Yvonne was seized near the north eastern city of Jalalabad on September 28 after travelling to the region with two local guides. She had intended to report on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The fate of the two Afghans remains uncertain.
October 8, 2001
The UK Foreign Office has warned the Taliban they are responsible for the safety of captured County Durham journalist Yvonne Ridley who was thought to be just hours away from freedom when the coalition strikes on Afghanistan began.
There has been no word on the welfare of the Sunday Express reporter since the attack on Sunday evening. Her parents, Allan and Joyce who live in West Pelton, County Durham, say the attack was the news they dreaded. They are now extremely worried about her safety.
Yvonne, 43, was thought to be just hours away from being handed over to UK officials. She was seized ten days ago after she crossed from Pakistan into eastern Afghanistan.
The UK Parliament is to meet in emergency session tonight to discuss the military strikes on Afghanistan. MPs are expected to hear details of action taken so far against Afghanistan, which Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed involved missiles fired from British submarines.
October 1, 2001
The Home Office is becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of a County Durham-born journalist being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Reports from Afghanistan yesterday said the Taliban had sent a special team to the north eastern city of Jalalabad to investigate whether the Yvonne Ridley was a spy.
The 43-year-old Sunday Express journalist was reportedly being detained in a house with a garden, and was free to roam around the compound. She was being provided with clean clothes, food four or five times a day and cigarettes, the Afghan Islamic Press quoted Taliban sources as saying.
The news brought hope to the Yvonne's parents Joyce and Allan Ridley who live in West Pelton, County Durham. They have been caring for their eight-year-old granddaughter Daisy since her mother was seized on Friday.
On being told of the reports from Afghanistan that she was being treated fairly, Mrs Ridley said: 'That doesn't surprise me, she will have probably insisted on those things. Knowing Yvonne she will get her own way during this.'
Sunday Express editor Martin Townsend made a personal appeal for his reporter's safe return. He said the paper had given its full support to Yvonne's decision to enter the country illegally.
Yvonne is chief reporter on the Daily Express. Originally from Stanley in County Durham she started her journalistic career on the Stanley Advertiser and has worked for The Northern Echo, Sunday Sun, The Sunday Times, the Observer and the Independent. She has covered stories in Cyprus, The Falklands, Damascus, Lockerbie and Northern Ireland It is understood she has been in the Middle East since the US suicide attacks on 11 September.
Sunday Express Editor, Martin Townsend, said: 'She is an experienced and courageous journalist.'
Yvonne met Daisy's father, a former Palestine Liberation Organisation Colonel, while working on an assignment in Cyprus for the Sunday Sun.
After the Lockerbie disaster nine years ago, Ms Ridley got the first interview with Ahmed Jibril, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which had been among the chief suspects.
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Taliban sets journalist free
Growing fears for Yvonne
Journalist
held by Taliban
Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Sue Kelly