Partially-sighted man, 79, falls victim to distraction theft in Oswestry
Monday 25th July 2011, 11:46AM BST.
A 79-year-old partially sighted man has been targeted by thieves in Oswestry after a visit to a bank machine.
The pensioner, who walks with a white stick, was distracted by a man and a woman who stopped him to ask for directions.
He later discovered his bank card had been stolen from a pocket and the thieves had withdrawn £250 from his account.
Police believe he may have been deliberately targeted as the incident occurred shortly after he made a withdrawal from the Lloyds TSB cash point machine in Church Street in Oswestry last Thursday morning.
The incident happened between 10am and 10.30am as the man was walking home through Cae Glas Park
A West Mercia Police spokesman, Richard Ewels, said today: “The woman appeared to be upset and was crying. In broken English, she stated her mother was extremely ill or dying and asked the man if he knew where Bramley Road was.
“At this point, the victim and the woman looked at a map she was holding and while the pensioner was being distracted, it seems her accomplice removed a cash-point card from his zipped coat pocket.”
“On arriving home, the man realised his card was missing and immediately returned to the bank to cancel it.
“He was told that £250 has been removed from his account about 10 minutes earlier.
“We are also anxious for any information which may assist the police investigation into this crime.”
The number to call is 0300 333 3000, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555 111.
The woman was described as white, in her mid 20s, about 5ft 6ins tall with straight dark hair. She was wearing a red or brown waist-length coat. The man was also white, about 5ft 11ins, in his twenties and wearing smart casual clothing.
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I hope the cctv was working in that area, so the scum that did this is caught, and if they are foreign nationals they are sent straight back to their homeland, they dont belong here.
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Something similar happened to me last year on Church Street. A car was parked also outside Lloyds and the driver had the window down – he said, “Excuse me, could you help me with directions to X and showed me a map”. His reason for asking me seemed a bit dubious from memory.
Fortunately, all my cards etc were well and truly stuffed into inside pockets, so I got away with it.
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