Kingston bus pickpockets get prison sentences (From Your Local Guardian)

Kingston bus pickpockets get prison sentences

8:00am Wednesday 13th January 2010 in Kingston By David Lindsell

Two pickpockets who preyed on pensioners, including a 91-year-old, in bus queues in and around Kingston, have received three year prison sentences.

A teenager who worked with the gang received an 18-month spell in a young offenders institute from Kingston Crown Court on Thursday.

Both Perry Mahoney, 48, from Stockwell, and David Turner, 50, from Lambeth, were sentenced to three years and four months in prison, with the time already served behind bars over Christmas taken into account.

Christopher Boyd, 17, whose mother is Turner’s partner, received an 18-month detention training order.

Judge Patricia Lees had rejected pleas in December from two of the three to be granted bail, saying it was not in the public interest to allow elderly people to be pickpocketed over Christmas.

Using a “sandwich” pickpocketing ruse, one of the three would pretend to drop his change on the floor of the bus to distract the driver and victim.

The second would then bump into the victim, pushing him backwards into the waiting arms of the third, who would pick their pocket.

Police found evidence of at least seven separate incidents, targeting people in their 60s, 70s and 80s.

The three were caught when they pickpocketed an 81-year-old man from New Malden on the number 57 bus and were captured on CCTV.

Plainclothes officers from Kingston recognised them and, although they escaped on an express X26 bus at Cromwell Road, it was stopped at North Cheam.

Each of them had a string of past offences including dishonesty and theft.

Inspector Iain Lewis, head of Kingston Safer Transport Team, said: “These three men preyed on vulnerable elderly people across south London - the oldest was 91 - and their arrest and subsequent conviction was the result of dedicated police work first by Kingston Safer Transport Team and then by the CID.

“With this sentence, the crown court has recognised the despicable nature of their crimes. Combating pickpockets is one of the main priorities for Kingston police.

“It is often traumatising for victims, and we continue to mount operations with central squads to target these criminals.”

Get crime statistics for your area at kingstonguardian.co.uk/li