Teams of pick pockets are targeting shoppers in Tameside. Police have issued a warning after a spate of incidents in the borough in recent days.
The thieves aim to steal purses and deliberately hone in on the vulnerable. Shopping centres and supermarkets in the area's towns are being targeted by the gangs.
In a social media post GMP Tameside South and West said: "Criminals are operating within our shopping centres / shop areas of Tameside which have recently had a spate of 'purse dipping' - Where offender(s) are working in teams mainly targeting vulnerable victims walking very close up to the potential victims and dipping purses / taking money or following victims to commit this type of crime.
READ MORE:
"Please stay vigilant and if anyone witnesses this sort of crime or becomes a victim of this crime or even feels like they are being followed then please report it to the police and or security staff."
Last month a career thief with 45 previous convictions was branded 'cynical' and 'heartless' by a judge who jailed her for preying on elderly shoppers in supermarkets for their purses.
One of mother-of-five Sharon Rooney's 14 victims was an 81-year-old woman recovering from bowel cancer out shopping in Aldi, Rochdale. A court heard she reached up to a shelf when Rooney said 'can I get that for you?' When she got to the tills she realised her purse was missing from her handbag, with Rooney going on to spend £300 on her bank card.
The victim said in a statement read out in court: "This crime made me feel extremely frightened and scared by what happened. I was shivering and shook up when I realised my purse had been stolen. All my life I have felt safe whilst shopping however since this incident, I no longer do and now carry my bag at the front of my body
"I am recovering from bowel cancer and I feel as if I have been targeted. No one should have to feel this way when going shopping."
Other victims used mobility scooters and walking aids, and had disabilities, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard. One lost a treasured photograph of her late parents she carried inside her purse. All 14 victims were elderly women aged between 63 and 89.
One victim - a woman aged 63 - described Rooney, 51, as 'like a shark waiting to move in for the kill and steal my property'. "This incident has left me feeling sick," she said. "I cried all night when I got home."
Shoppers were targeted at Morrisons in Rochdale; Aldi on Entwistle Road, Rochdale; Aldi in Heywood; Morrisons in Eccles, Salford; Aldi in Middleton and Asda in Radcliffe from January 4 this year through to April 22. Having already received a suspended prison sentence in 2020 for similar offences Rooney was jailed for four years three months her latest spree.
