Two men and a woman have been jailed for a total of ten years for a series of handbag and purse thefts that took place across the UK including Northallerton and Darlington.
It follows a lengthy nationwide investigation involving ten police forces which was led by officers from Humberside Police.
The sentences were as follows:
Piotr Molda, 45, from Westbourne Avenue, Hull was given 5 years for conspiracy to steal.
Anna Majewska, 42, of no fixed abode received 3 years for 19 separate theft offences.
Patryk Molda, 23, of no fixed abode got 2 years for six separate theft offences.
The trio targeted a number of elderly shoppers in supermarkets and shops across the country between September 2017 and April 2018.
The crimes included a bag snatch in Sainsburys in Darlington on January 29 this year and another in Wilkinsons in Northallerton on March 23.
Following a long investigation between officers from Humberside as well as Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Cumbria, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Gwent, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Durham the three were finally caught and brought to justice.
Detective Sergeant Tom Kelly from Grimsby CID said: “This has been months of hard work, long hours and determination by our officers in gathering the evidence for these offences.
“I am grateful for the assistance my colleagues in other police forces across the UK have given me in achieving this result and preventing these people from continuing to offend nationally.
“These people have been targeting their victims relentlessly and deliberately up and down the country. They were organised and ruthless in their pursuit to steal from unsuspecting and innocent victims.
“We must remember that many of these victims were elderly. They were put through a very distressing experience which was not only inconvenient but upsetting for them.
“My job was to find these criminals and put them before the court. The charges today reflect the seriousness of the offending.
“This has caused upset to many of the victims in this case, and having acted as the national lead for this investigation, this is an example of how working together has brought about a good result.”
On 15 October 2018 at Grimsby Crown Court His Honour Judge Simon Jack described the offences as ‘appalling’ and that the three carried out a ‘carefully calculated plan to target the most vulnerable in society’.
He added that the average age of the victims was 76 or 77-years-old and that Molda, Molda and Majewska ‘made a business out of elderly vulnerable people’.
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