This is the moment cruel thieves working together strike to steal £3,000 from a man INSIDE a bank.
Police have issued CCTV footage from the branch involved in a bid to track down the pair – as their victim, 24, told how he had a panic attack when he realised the money was missing.
“For days after I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t drink,” he said. “It was £3,000. It had taken me so long to save that up then, suddenly, it was gone.” Police said they suspect the pair are ‘travelling the UK targeting people at vulnerable moments in order to steal large amounts of cash’. They said it was a ‘well-planned’ operation carried out with ‘military precision.”
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One is a woman who was wearing a red coat. The second is a man who was wearing a flat cap.
The CCTV footage – which police said captures a ‘bank follow’ – shows the woman distract the young victim, who works nights at a hotel in Warrington, Cheshire.
She even positions him away from the envelope as her accomplice, the man in the cap, swipes the cash and walks away.
The woman quickly follows and police have them both on CCTV running through the town centre afterwards and trying to change their appearance. Their victim told the BBC’s Crimewatch that he had offered to help the woman translate.
He went to Nationwide Building Society in Warrington town centre on June 19 and withdrew the sum. Wanting to transfer it between accounts, he took the cash in a white envelope to a NatWest branch across the road.
There, the man said he was distracted by the woman, who he said was making a ‘scene’. He said he offered to translate for her and help her. “It was only a few minutes after that I saw the envelope was gone,” he added. “I had a panic attack.”
As the woman in the red coat distracted him, the man in the flat cap, who police said was working with her, swiped the envelope.
“I’m quite a chatty, outgoing person, I try to be a nice person and help people when I can. It gives me a sense of meaning. Now I won’t help people anymore. I am more conscious.”
He said he was saving up to go travelling. “I didn’t know what to do,” he added.
PC Graham Davies, of Cheshire Police, described what can be seen in the footage. He said: “Immediately red coat lady starts to engage with him [the victim],” he explained. “She was speaking in a foreign language.
“She indicates that she is confused about using the cashpoint. Flat cap guy, he’s hovering, he’s waiting for an opportunity to strike.
“He [the victim] tries to help her and his back is turned at this point. His money is behind him, his phone is behind him. Flat cap man has gone in and he’s took the envelope, and he’s away. A short time later, he is followed by red coat lady. It’s actually several minutes before the victim realises his money is gone.”
Anyone who recognises either of the suspects is asked to contact Crimewatch anonymously on 08000 468 999.
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