This is the sickening moment heartless robbers mugged an epileptic woman while she was lying helpless on the ground in the dark having a seizure.
The 39-year-old woman fell to the ground as she began to suffer a seizure in Manchester's Chinatown in the early hours of last Thursday morning.
A group of men appeared and began stripping the helpless woman of her possessions including her phone and purse as she writhed around in distress.
Her husband Jordan Royce, who spoke to the Manchester Evening News about her ordeal, says she was "robbed blind" by thieves who "went after her like piranhas."
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The police and paramedics were alerted to what was happening on the junction of Portland Street and Sackville Street by Manchester City Council CCTV controlllers.
Mr Royce gave his permission for the footage of his wife's ordeal to show the extent of what happened to her in the hope someone may come forward with information.
He told the Manchester Evening News: "I hope that the release of this is powerful as it may lead to someone being brought to justice and it may act as a deterrent to anyone doing anything like this in the future."
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The graphic footage shows the vulnerable victim, who had been working late to try and meet a deadline before falling ill, writhing around on the ground as two men wearing dark coloured tops with the hood up appear and lean over her.
They then appear to begin rifling through her pockets.
Her car is parked on the pavement next to her, with its hazard warning lights on, and at one point one of the men manages to open the driver's door and even sits inside the vehicle.
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They do not steal it and flee several seconds later as the woman continues to wriggle in distress.
When she eventually regained consciousness, her phone, purse, bank cards and about £40 in cash had been stolen from her.
"I hate that this has happened. To do something like this, you are not a Mancunian," Mr Royce continued.
"But I am not suprised.
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"I can understand the circumstances that lead people to become this desperate.
"We need to open our eyes to what's happening in the city centre.
"Because if we don't do something and start to help people this will go from being a shocking incident to something we live with everyday."
Police officers were on the scene within two minutes, shortly before 1am in the early hours of Thursday, March 21.
Officers made sure she was dealt with by paramedics as they tried to trace her phone using the 'Find My iPhone' app and pursue the suspects, without success.
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The phone was last traced to Whitworth Street where some men were seen running.
Detectives from Operation Valiant, which combats personal robberies, have now taken on the case and are examining the CCTV footage for leads.
So far there have been no arrests.
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"She's so grateful to the police and the ambulance service" magazine editor Mr Royce, 50, said.
"They saved her. It was just luck that the camera was pointing and it picked her up.
"It could have been looking the other way and she could have been there for hours but they saved her."
His wife, who was left with cuts and bruises, was taken to hospital where she was treated for three days and she is now back home recovering in Stockport.
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And Mr Royce said she had been overwhelmed by the support she had received after her story was first revealed on Sunday.
She's had an avalanche of support, messages, cards, flowers.
"She's utterly humbled by it. She doesn't feel she's important enough for all this attention but that's the kind of person she is. But she can't thank people enough," Mr Royce said
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A city centre police spokesperson said yesterday: "We received reports at 00:59 of a woman who was receiving treatment by the ambulance service.
"They requested our assistance as a group had gathered.
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"Shortly afterwards the female reported her phone as being stolen, believed to have happened during the incident. CCTV enquiries are ongoing."
