Pregnant girl, 16, a part of theft gang in Bradford, Otley and Guiseley (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Pregnant girl, 16, a part of theft gang in Bradford, Otley and Guiseley

10:00am Tuesday 11th September 2012 in News By Jenny Loweth, T&A Reporter

A Bradford-based gang of pickpockets preyed on vulnerable elderly women as they shopped in supermarkets in the district, a Court heard.

Distressed victims, including two pensioners in their nineties, lost purses, money, bus and library passes and medical prescriptions.

Two of the four-strong gang, who are all believed to be Polish, appeared for sentence at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

A 16-year-old girl, who is pregnant, and a woman had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.

Two other alleged gang members, a man and woman, are wanted on police warrant.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of her age, was sentenced to a 12-month youth rehabilitation order. She was warned that if she breached it she could be locked up.

Judge John Potter said the girl spoke to victims to distract them while an accomplice targeted purses and handbags.

The judge said the elderly women were left “significantly traumatised”.

Sentence on the woman was adjourned after new psychiatric evidence was provided to the court. She was bailed to return on October 2.

Judge Potter told her: “In my judgment, your previous convictions, and the circumstances of these offences, make immediate custody almost inevitable and you must prepare yourself to receive an immediate custodial sentence.”

Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told the court that the group worked as a team purse-dipping.

They struck in Sainsbury’s in Otley on January 4 when an 85-year-old woman had her purse stolen, containing her bus pass and library card, and two days later, an 82-year-old woman was targeted in Marks & Spencer’s in Guiseley and a 94-year-old woman in Waitrose in Otley.

The first victim lost £69 in cash but her discarded bag was returned after she was traced through a medical prescription in it. The second woman lost £70 in cash and her bank cards.

The team was back in action on January 10, stealing from an 81-year-old woman in a Morrisons in Bradford.

Mr Ahmed said the 16-year-old girl distracted the victim while her purse was stolen from her shopping trolley.

The pensioner grabbed hold of the thief but she got away.

The gang also struck twice in Huddersfield on January 13, targeting women aged 79 and 92.

The police used CCTV evidence to catch gang members and a search of a house in Bradford uncovered stolen property.