Conman targeted petrol stations and shops in theft spree

A MERCEDESDRIVING conman targeted a string of shops and petrol stations during a daylong crime spree, a court heard.

Gheorge Varga used a combination of sleight of hand and intimidation to steal hundreds of pounds from stores.

He was arrested later the same day – but then skipped the country and fled back to his native Romania.

It was three years after his arrest that Varga finally appeared in the dock of Swansea Crown Court for sentencing.

Ashanti-Jade Walton, prosecuting, told the court Varga’s offending all occurred on the afternoon and evening of March 18, 2016. In the space of around six hours Varga targeted a cafe in Rhayader, a petrol station in Llandrindod Wells, two shops in Llandeilo and a petrol station in Trostre, Llanelli.

Each incident followed a similar pattern with Varga asking staff to change £20 notes into £10 notes then causing a distraction and getting money from the tills and cashiers using “sleight of hand” and intimidation.

In total the 33-year-old managed to steal £645.

Following the final incident – at the Texaco garage in Trostre, Llanelli – the cashier called police and was able to give the details of the Mercedes car that Varga was driving.

Officers searched the area and found the vehicle parked outside a nearby B&B.

Varga and two other men were arrested at the guesthouse.

Varga, of Hardwick Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to three thefts and two attempted thefts.

While on bail Varga fled the country at the end of 2016 but he returned to the UK at the start of this year.

David Singh, for Varga, said the defendant had returned to Romania in the latter part of 2016 where he had subsequently married.

The barrister said upon his release from the prison sentence he was facing the defendant hoped his wife would join him in the UK and they would settle in Rotherham.

He added he had been instructed by the defendant to express to the court his remorse for what he had done.

Judge Keith Thomas told Varga he had clearly had a plan to “deliberately confuse and intimidate” shopkeepers and thereby get money from them.

He said in the way they had been committed the offences of theft and attempted theft had “some of the hallmarks of robbery” about them as he jailed Varga for 12 months.

The court heard that one of the two men police arrested at the Llanelli B&B in 2016 was released without further action but the other is still subject to an arrest warrant and remains at large.