Oswestry Aldi bag snatch man sentence ‘too lenient’
The man who apprehended a thief who admitted stealing an OAP’s purse believes the sentence handed out was too lenient.
His 87-year-old female victim was unaware her money and cards had been stolen until she got to the till in Aldi supermarket in Oswald Road, Oswestry, on October 24.
An appeal was made by West Mercia Police following the incident and weeks later, when finishing a shift in Morrisons, near to where the theft took place, store worker Mark Jones spotted Verea, 44.
He was made aware of the man after a warning from a Morrisons store in Nottingham was sent to all workers in the region.
He called his duty manager, who stopped the man from leaving the store before he was arrested by police. He said: “I was finishing a shift and turned around. I saw this man and recognised him from pictures we were sent from the Nottingham store.
“Then I realised it was the man I had seen in photographs from Morrisons.
“I spoke to the duty manager and we rang the police and decided to ask the man back into the store.
“There were also customers on hand to help out in case he decided to break away, it was a real community and team effort.”
Verea had followed the victim in the store before the incident.
In a victim impact statement, read to the court last week, the victims said: “To be honest, I’m as tough as old boots. I have been carrying on as normal. I was not physically hurt and I didn’t know anything until I got to the till and I couldn’t find my purse.” Verea, of Smethwick, was remorseful, and was ordered to pay £192.50 compensation, £185 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
Chair of the bench Margaret Linington-Payne described the crime as “despicable” before also ordering 200 hours of unpaid work to be done. Mr Jones believes the sentence handed out wasn’t heavy enough.
He said: “The magistrate described it as a despicable crime, I believe he should have served some time in prison. “I think if it was myself it was done to, then The punishment would have been okay, but it was an elderly lady and it should have been heavier.”
