OAP bag theft: arrest is made

‘Despicable crime’suspect is traced

A 25-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with a “despicable crime” in which a woman in her nineties had her handbag snatched at her home in Stirling.

Police in the city, working with colleagues from Tayside division, identified the woman – who has a Kirkcaldy address but is a Romanian national – as someone they wish to interview regarding the incident.

The victim, who was aged 93 at the time of the offence on March 8, had the bag and its contents stolen from her home in Causewayhead after returning from a shopping trip.

The Observer reported how, on the day the theft occurred, the victim had been shopping at the Thistles Centre when she became aware of a female standing close to her.

After leaving the Poundland store she boarded a bus and as she took her seat she noticed the same female follow her on to the bus. They both got off at Easter Cornton Road.

The elderly woman walked home and after taking out her bins she again saw the female suspect who engaged her in conversation, asking for directions. She was speaking with what was thought to be an Eastern European accent.

After helping with directions the suspect headed towards the town centre but when the elderly lady returned to her home she noticed that her handbag and its contents had been stolen.

Officers said last month that they were following a positive line of enquiry in relation to the offence and on Monday confirmed that a suspect had been traced. A report has been sent to the procurator fiscal pending a court appearance.

The suspect was detained by police in Tayside regarding a similar offence there. Police circulated the description of the suspect to other divisions and she was interviewed about the offence in Causewayhead, which officers last year described as a “despicable crime against a vulnerable woman”.