A purse dipper feigned innocence and pleaded "I wouldn't do that, that's the lowest of the low" when he was confronted by an elderly woman after targeting her in an Asda supermarket.
Paul Lipson callously stole from several OAPs aged up to 97 as they shopped in stores including Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury's. When challenged on another occasion, he brazenly claimed that his victim had dementia and he was her carer.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that one incident at Sainsbury's on Lord Street in Southport on May 20 last year saw the prolific thief stand "close behind" a 97-year-old woman who was browsing a shelf of books. The 53-year-old then stole her handbag, which contained £378.25 following a withdrawal from a cash machine shortly beforehand, from a plastic bag in her trolley.
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Karl Scholz, prosecuting, described how Lipson, of Faversham Road in Norris Green, "had a modus operandi of targeting elderly ladies" and would occasionally place stolen items on shelves when suspicions arose before returning "when the coast was clear". On June 8, he "brushed against" another woman in the Asda supermarket on Utting Avenue in Walton as she reached to pick up a pack of mints.
When the victim realised her purse had been taken out of her bag, she "had the presence of mind" to confront the suspicious man. But Lipson replied: "I wouldn't do that.
"That's the lowest of the low. Why would I need to rob off anyone?"
Lipson even emptied his pockets to demonstrate his supposed innocence, but unbeknown to the complainant had placed her belongings on a nearby shelf. Two of her bank cards were then used to make four transactions totalling £140.30.
Two of the thefts occurred at the M&S branch at Aintree Shopping Park. The store's security guard reported he had seen Lipson visiting on "numerous occasions" without making purchases, instead following pensioners around while looking into their bags and trollies - with Mr Scholz adding: "He is there simply to steal."
One woman had her purse stolen at this location on June 15, with her bank cards then used to make £93.58 of purchases. He would return three days later on June 18, "constantly following" another.
At one point, his target asked "are you following me?" to which Lipson responded "as if it was banter" and made a bizarre comment that the "bananas were far better at the back of one particular shelf". She then noticed her purse had been lifted from her bag, although it was then found on a nearby shelf.
The same day, he removed a woman's purse from her bag - which had been hanging on a hook below the handle of her trolley - at Asda on Ormskirk Road. When confronted over his suspicious behaviour, Lipson claimed he was the victim's carer and that she had Alzheimer's.
Another shopper was targeted at Tesco on Hawthorne Road in Litherland, only noticing her purse had disappeared from her trolley once at the till. The defendant was then seen on CCTV using her bank cards to buy £148.40 of cigarettes within the space of 30 minutes in three different stores.
Lipson has a staggering 96 previous convictions for 238 offences including 108 for theft or attempted theft, nine for burglary and four for robbery - leading to him being jailed for seven years in 1998.
The drug user, who was defended by Stella Hayden, admitted four counts of theft, one of attempted theft and six counts of fraud. Judge David Swinnerton sent him to prison for 44 months on Thursday.
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