Elderly woman gets her bag sliced open and £400 stolen (From Your Local Guardian)

84-year-old Sutton woman gets her bag sliced open and £400 stolen in distraction theft

6:00am Friday 21st September 2012 in Top Stories By James Pepper

An 84-year-old woman had £400 stolen from her bag after thieves used a knife to cut it open.

The woman, who was accompanied by her sister, left her bank with £250 worth of US dollars and £160 sterling and went into Marks and Spencer.

Two males and a woman got very close and distracted her whilst and one cut her bag and grab the envelopes containing the cash. 

The woman described the moment that she lost the money as being barged into and having two people talking across her in very close proximity.

Police say that the woman is likely to have been targeted by this professional group of thieves from the time she was at the bank on Wednesday August  29 between 13.45 and 14.15.

The suspects are described as a white man, an Asian man and a woman.

The woman may have been wearing a black hat and a light coloured patterned head scarf at different times. If you saw this incident, please contact Sutton CID on 020 8649 0747. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

PC Duncan Harris, of Sutton's crime prevention team, said that this was an extremely rare and nasty incident in what is a low crime borough.

He advised shoppers not to withdraw cash that they don’t need, to move away if they feel their personal space is being invaded and to contact a member of store staff or police on 999 if they see anyone acting suspiciously."