Posted online: Mar 13th, 2009

EXCLUSIVE

By Sinéad Flanagan
editor@kildarepost.com

Romanian gangs are targeting vulnerable mothers in a bid to rob them of their hard earned cash in Kildare supermarkets, a leading garda source has said.
‘Sneak thieving’ as it is termed, sees thieves rob handbags from shopping trolleys when shoppers are distracted by something else.
“It is an opportunistic crime. People often put their handbag into the trolley and move it on so far and then start comparing prices and that kind of thing while someone sneaks the bag away and it’s not until that person is at the checkout that they realise the bag is gone,” the source said.
“I don’t want to be scaremongering people, they are not being followed from the house or anything, it’s more of an opportunistic type of crime.”
An incident at the weekend in a Naas supermarket sparked the warning to shoppers, as this is just one of a number of similar incidents that have taken place in recent times.
“It’s not an organised crime but you never know who is knocking about,” the source said. While many people take their eye off their bag when shopping, the garda warns to keep money on your person so that should you get distracted, this will be safe.
The garda explained that gangs of about four Romanian nationals might and have targeted a town one day, and picked a different one another day while taking a break in between. Adding that this crime however, is not isolated to these ‘gangs’, as others can also take advantage of such a situation.
“It’s just a matter of being vigilant,” the source says.