Three men have been jailed for stealing an elderly woman’s purse and taking money out of her bank account.

Marian Pascu, 48, of Shrewsbury Road in London, Remus-Florian Turturica, 58, and Dumitru Vartan, 39, both of Liverpool, were sentenced at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on Wendesday (4).

The men watched a 71-year-old woman put in her PIN number at the checkout in Morrisons on Hatfield Road, St Albans, on March 31 this year.

They then distracted her in the car park by asking her for directions and took her purse, containing £100, from her handbag.

Two hundred and ninety pounds was subsequently withdrawn from her account using her card.

The men were later stopped by police for acting suspiciously and Pascu was charged with a theft from three years earlier.

PC Iffie Iqbal, who arrested the men, said: “Pascu and his associates deliberately targeted elderly and vulnerable people and stole from them.

“It’s always hard to track down these kind of calculating offenders as they are quick and victims often don’t realise straight away that they have been duped.

“We have been looking for Pascu since 2013 with enquiries leading us to Luton, London and Coventry. We had an overwhelming amount of evidence which meant the two victims did not have to go to court.

Pascu was sentenced to 26 months imprisonment and had his Volvo car seized. Turturica and Vartan were each sentenced to seven months imprisonment.

PC Iqbal added: “As well as his custodial sentence, one of Pascu’s assets – his Volvo – has been seized. He will no longer be able to use this vehicle to target elderly, vulnerable victims.”