Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Thieves who took handbag with treasured pics ‘absolute scum’
Two thieves who stole a handbag containing treasured photographs have been branded “absolute scum”.
The man and woman walked into the Bishop’s Finger pub in St Dunstan’s Street just after 7pm on Wednesday, December 7, and left with a bag belonging to Veronica Pringle.
She had been sitting in the centre of the pub when the male thief stood with his back to her. He then removed the handbag from the chair it was hanging on and handed it to the woman before they both left without buying anything.
The bag contained a chequebook, bank cards, glasses and a little money, but Mrs Pringle lost a set of irreplaceable photographs.
Her husband Tony was with her when the theft happened.
“The people that did this are scum,” said the retired 63-year-old, of New House Lane, Wincheap.
“There was hardly anything of value in it, except the pictures, which are of sentimental value.
“If they had any sense, they would have handed it into the police station and said they had found it in the road, but they didn’t. “They’re absolute scum.” CCTV footage from inside the pub shows the couple, wearing winter coats and hats, enter the pub and make their way past the bar.
They move closer to the Pringles and their friends.
The man then passes the bag to the woman and they leave.
Tony estimates they were in the pub for no more than a minute.
He said: “We didn’t really notice them. It was only after viewing the footage that you can see what they were up to.
“It’s clear they were casing the place. They go past the bar and presumably, having seen Veronica’s handbag, they come over to us.
“I would suggest these people are quite practised at what they do. They have got to be caught.”
Anyone with information about the theft can call 101 quoting crime reference number ZY/044196/16.