Three men wanted in attempted theft from a pensioner

The police officer in the case has described the attempted theft as ‘cowardly’

THAMES Valley Police has released CCTV images of three men they would like to speak to in connection with an attempted distraction theft in Newbury.

The images show three men as they entry Sainsbury's in Kings Road, Newbury, on July 18.

At about 10am, a 79-year-old woman was shopping in the store when a man approached her and tried to speak to her in a foreign language; she ignored him and moved to the fruit aisle.

She was then approached by another man who again spoke to her in a foreign language. She ignored him but the man kept trying to talk and showed her some cherries in an attempt to distract her from her trolley.

As a second man was distracting the victim, the first man took the victim's bag from her trolley.

The victim realised that her bag has been stolen and saw the two men walking out towards the entrance. She shouted at them and they threw the bag towards her.

Nothing was stolen.

PC Jennifer Scott, from Newbury police station, said: “This is a cowardly act targeting a vulnerable elderly person. We believe there were three men involved in the robbery and we are very keen to speak to the three men pictured as we believe they may be involved. I am appealing for anyone who can identify these men to contact police.

“There was series of similar offences a couple of years ago where people would speak foreign languages to distract elderly people in supermarkets while stealing their purses and wallets; this is possibly happening again.

“There may be other people who have been approached by people speaking East European languages in shops and supermarkets, and if this is the case then we want to hear from you.”

Anyone with information about this incident should contact PC Scott on 0845 8 505 505.

Alternatively, you can contact the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.