A “callous” Romanian crime tourist who struck across Europe has been jailed for targeting elderly victims during a spate of distraction burglaries in north London.
Luminita Stefan, 29, stole cash, watches and jewellery within one month of flying into the UK.
She would turn up at front doors and tricked her way in by lying about being pregnant.
Stefan claimed she needed a glass of water or had to use the toilet before ransacking homes of those who had “shown kindness to her” in Islington, Camden, Barnet and Haringey between April 2023 and June last year.
Her oldest target was a 97-year-old man and some had died before seeing justice, the Metropolitan Police said.
Among Stefan’s haul were expensive wedding and engagement rings, many of which had been gifts from deceased relatives and of significant sentimental value.
She sold on these items to an unknown group of males and none have been recovered.
In one raid, Stefan honed in on Myddelton Square, Clerkenwell - where terraced houses sell for £4.3million - on August 10, 2023.
Detectives based in Islington investigating nine offences identified her by linking fingerprints found at crime scenes with profiles held by agencies in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Stefan had convictions for theft, robbery and attempted robbery within the past five years in those countries.
In June 2024, she was arrested at Luton Airport as she attempted to flee on a flight booked to Romania’s capital Bucharest.
Stefan is believed to have entered Britain in March 2023 and had no known links or addresses in the UK.
During hearings at Snaresbrook Crown Court and Wood Green Crown Court that ended last Thursday, she was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment having pleaded guilty nine counts of burglary dwelling.
Stefan conned her way into a house on Duncan Terrace, Angel - near ex-PM Boris Johnson’s £3.75m Grade II-listed former marital home.
Others happened in Fitzjohn Avenue, Hampstead; Leigh Street, Bloomsbury; Southwood Lane, Highgate; Malden Road, Chalk Farm; Hugo Road, Tufnell Park; and Prince of Wales Road, Bartholomew Road and Lady Somerset Road, all in Kentish Town.
PC Amy Smith, who led the investigation, said: “I am pleased that Luminita Stefan will have a significant period of time in prison to reflect on the callousness of her actions.
“What she did was disgraceful. Motivated entirely by greed, and without a care for the consequences for the victims, she tricked her way into the homes of elderly people who were willing to help her as an apparently pregnant woman.
“She then took anything of value from the people who’d shown kindness to her, some of whom passed away before Stefan’s sentencing.
“Met officers come to work every day to protect the public and to get justice for victims of crime.
“If you have information about people who are committing offences or facilitating crimes by selling stolen goods, please contact police or Crimestoppers and share what you know.”
