Revealed: The faces of trio who stole more than £22,000 from Shropshire's vulnerable

The gang emptied the victims' bank accounts after targeting them in a sophisticated and well-organised conspiracy using pickpocketing or distraction techniques to steal wallets and purses containing debit cards.

Stolen bank cards were then used to withdraw large sums of cash at a time.

In total 14 victims who lost an average of £1,500 each. More than £22,000 was stolen.

On April 4 in Oswestry, Marian Zanfir attempted to steal a handbag containing a bank card after distracting a shopper in Aldi’s car park.

The same month he struck in Wellington at Morrison’s car park where a shopper’s handbag was snatched from inside her car in April after she was distracted. Sums of £1,700, followed by three separate withdrawals of £800 were then taken from her account.

But the break-through for West Mercia Police came when the trio struck in Shrewsbury in May and a 72-year-old’s purse was pinched from her handbag after visiting Lloyds Bank, in Pride Hill. Within eight minutes of the theft, sums of £220 and £1,500 were withdrawn from her bank account.

However, this victim quickly phoned the police who caught up with the defendants on the M54 as they made their escape with their ill-gotten gains.

When they were arrested group leader Zanfir had £1,320 cash in his possession and co-defendant Ileana Babeanu had £110 cash. Another defendant Dimitru Radu was at the wheel of the Vauxhall Astra.

Many other offences date from 2015 when Zanfir would prey on unsuspecting shoppers by stealing their debit cards from them or using distraction methods to snatch handbags from vehicles in supermarket car parks.

These included an incident at Sainsburys, in Oswestry, on November 20, 2015 when two bank cards were stolen from a shopper, resulting in £4,000 being transferred from their accounts.

As they were sentenced Mr Darron Whitehead, prosecuting barrister, told Shrewsbury Crown Court that after going quiet the 43-year-old resumed his activities, hooking up with Babeanu, 39, and Radu, 52.

“The conspiracy was well-planned, sophisticated and well organised,” Mr Whitehead said.

The trio who all lived at the same address, in Limes Street, Merridale, Wolverhampton, were jailed for a total of eight years for the offences.

Zanfir was jailed for four years after admitting conspiracy to steal bank cards, conspiracy to defraud and theft.

Radu and Babeanu each received two-year sentences for conspiracy to steal bank cards and conspiracy to defraud.

Thefts were also reported in Tunstall, Staffordshire; Redditch, Alvechurch, Evesham, Pershore, and Droitwich all in Worcestershire; and Leamington, in Warwickshire.

Sentencing them, Mr Recorder Kevin Hegarty QC said: “In 2015, Zanfir committed four offences of theft and four offences of fraud. They all involved stealing bank cards from older women. Some were more elderly than others.

“You were involved in watching them, no doubt to point out your intended victim and indicating to your confederates who was to be bumped into or otherwise distracted to enable you and those who you were with to steal their cards, and with their personal ID number, gain access to their accounts and help yourself to as much as you could possibly lay your hands on.

"These offences went undetected for many years and then you reappeared in April 2019 when you, along with others, started to engage again in the same criminality, targeting women who were on their own at the shops going about their lawful business.”