A man who has stolen a total of £11,200 from various elderly victims has been jailed.

Daniel Calinescu, 42, a Romanian national of no fixed address, was part of a group between four to six individuals who stole money from elderly victims.

He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday (October 15) to four counts of theft and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Enquiries are ongoing to identify the other members of the group.

On July 9, £2,500 was stolen from a 78-year-old woman in St John’s Hill Batersea. More than a month later, a 62-year-old woman in Shrewsbury Avenue, Harrow, also had £2,500 stolen.

Other offences by Calinescu include a woman, 73, in Barrett’s Grove Hackney, having £,1700 stolen on July 29 and a woman, 72, had £4,500 stolen in High Street, Ealing on August 29.

In each case, Calinescu watched elderly and vulnerable people withdraw large sums of money over counters at banks. He then followed them as they walked away and stole the cash from each victim as they would board a bus.

A razor blade or knife was used in two of these occasions to slash the victim’s bag and steal the cash.

The Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC) proactive team led the investigation and identified Calinescu through intelligence work. He was arrested on September 15.

Judge Joanna Korner, who sentenced Calinescu, said to the defendant at Southwark Crown Court: “You have pleaded guilty to four counts of theft, the most unpleasant and nasty offences which can be committed within this category of crime.

“No doubt you were deliberately targeting victims because of their obvious vulnerability. No other punishment is suitable other than immediate imprisonment; it must be some length to mark public disapproval of people such as yourself and your activities.”