A 24-year-old man told a jury he was not there when his friend got on to a hospital ward and pulled the ring off an elderly stroke patient’s finger.
Stanislav Jano, 24, of Marlborough Road, Idle , Bradford, denies robbing Christine Brown of her engagement ring and phone on Ward 15 at Bradford Royal Infirmary on January 7.
Giving evidence in his defence at Bradford Crown Court , he said Robert Ziga left him alone in the hospital when they were visiting a friend’s pregnant wife.
Mrs Brown, who was in a private room, had the engagement ring she had worn for 52 years pulled from her finger and her phone snatched from her bedside table.
Ziga, 28, of Oak Villas, Manningham , Bradford, has pleaded guilty to robbery.
He was arrested two days after the offence with Mrs Brown’s phone in his hand.
Jano said Ziga left him alone for a while and then ran downstairs and out of the hospital and he followed.
The trial continues.
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