Sneaky card thief locked up

FRAUDSTERS targeted unsuspecting customers in Newcastle bars, watching them closely to get their pin numbers before pickpocketing their bank cards.

During a sophisticated, weekendlong plan, Laurentiu Paraschiv and another man stole the cards from revellers in Perdu and House of Smith, in Newcastle city centre.

A court heard the pair were caught on CCTV standing close to their victims as they paid for drinks at the Collingwood Street bar and noting down their pin numbers.

They both then used “skill” to pickpocket the cards without being noticed before withdrawing cash and buying expensive electrical equipment, prosecutors said.

Romanian Paraschiv and his accomplice, who has yet to be traced, even managed to spend money in London and on the Capital’s underground with one card – just 24 hours after it was stolen.

Police spent two years trying to track the pair until dad-of-two Paraschiv was finally arrested in Liverpool last month.

Now, the 38-year-old has been locked-up for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, two of theft and one of han- Paraschiv, right. House of Smith, above, one of the bars the fraudsters targeted. dling stolen Crown Court.

David Crook, prosecuting, said the pair had travelled to Newcastle on March 26 2015 and stayed in a room at the Hampton by Hilton Hotel.

He said: “Over that weekend, the defendant and that other man went to various licenced premises during busy periods, where their technique was to observe victims using bank cards to purchase drinks and, thereafter, standing close to the victims, watching them use their pin numbers and, when the opportunity arose, goods at Newcastle subsequently to steal the cards from those victims and, thereafter, using the cards and ill-gotten pin numbers to obtain cash withdrawals or purchase property.”

The court heard three victims were targeted, two in Perdu and one in House of Smith. In total, £2,900 was taken or spent between the pair.

On one occasion, they bought £500-worth of goods from the Apple store, in Eldon Square, while on others they were caught on CCTV withdrawing money from ATMs on Grainger Street.

After their third victim, Paraschiv and his pal travelled to London and used the card to buy goods and tickets for the underground, Mr Crook said.

Locking Paraschiv up for 12 months, Recorder Peter Makepeace said he had used a “high degree” of planning and sophistication.

Vic Laffey, mitigating, said Paraschiv was desperate to return to Romania after the death of his father to look after his elderly mother.