Fri, 25 May 2012
Three young men who tricked pensioners into entering their pin numbers in cash machines and then stole their bank cards have been jailed.
But a fourth man who was involved in only one of the incidents has escaped with a suspended sentence.
Mahdi Habib, Omar Salih, Mohammed Khan and Bilal Kassim all pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of theft and fraud.
Habib, 21, of Tamworth Grove, Balsall Heath, who is already serving a two-year sentence imposed in October for similar offences, was jailed for eight months.
Salih, 23, of Evelyn Road, Birmingham, who had also admitted four similar offences in Birmingham and York, and Kassim, 20, of Eastham, London, were both jailed for six months.
But Khan, 21, of St Peters Street, Rochdale, was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years, with 12 months supervision, and was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work.
Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said: “All the thefts and frauds involve the same distraction technique, targeting retired individuals using cash machines.”
‘‘Almost every incident was captured by CCTV cameras, which enabled the police to identify the defendants, but it was still impossible to see exactly how they had stolen their victims’ cards as they crowded round them.’’
Click to view the profile for Andrew Wallace - Prosecuting
