A Romanian Big Issue seller, who stole £50 from a kindly blind pensioner, who was buying a copy of the homeless magazine, was jailed for four months today for the "deeply nasty" offence.
Razvan Dumitru, 22, has fifteen aliases and six bogus dates of birth and has been offending since he arrived in the U.K. without a visa as an eleven year-old along with his father and five siblings.
The father-of-two, of Victoria Road, Lower Edmonton was selling the Big Issue outside Morrisons supermarket in High Street, Sutton on November 30.
Under the old EU rules the job gave him self-employed status, a national insurance number and the right to claim benefits.
When 66 year-old Jane Phillips, who recognised his voice, stopped to buy a copy he reached into her purse and snatched five £10 notes.
A mother with her two children saw what was going on and a male witness noticed the pensioner was distressed.
Dumitru denied taking the cash and started packing up, but was detained after a struggle with the man, who was assisted by a member of the store's security staff.
Police were called and the sergeant was assisted by two passing off-duty police officers.
Dumitru had £23 cash in his pocket and the five tenners hidden between copies of the Big Issue in his bag and pleaded guilty to theft when he appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court.
Police revealed the pensioner was "over the moon" with the help she received from members of the public and the police and thanked them for their support although the incident has shattered her faith in human nature.
She told police she would regularly give the vendor £1 while shopping, but never took a copy of the magazine because she cannot read.
Dumitru was remanded in custody to Croydon Crown Court for sentencing, where Judge Barbara Cameron told him: "You have pleaded guilty to a deeply nasty opportunistic theft in the street from a blind woman.
"The offence was committed out of greed when she kindly tendered to you a one pound coin and then felt you touching her purse, exploiting her vulnerability to take fifty pounds.
"This was an appalling and reprehensible crime, committed two days after a suspended prison sentence hanging over you ran out."
Dumitru's lawyer Mr. Graham Lloyd told the court: "Looking at his record it is quite appalling. Between the ages of fifteen and seventeen there are a large number of dishonesty offences and he went into custody for the first time aged seventeen."
The court heard the defendant has never learned English during his eleven years in the UK or held down a steady job, except earning £280-£500 per month selling the Big Issue.
Judge Cameron told Dumitru, who has convictions for burglary, theft and attempted theft: "You exploited your position of trust as a Big Issue seller, wrecking the reputation of those vendors.
"Your income relies on these nasty opportunistic incidents of theft and you have demonstrated little remorse.
"You have failed to understand a blind woman is highly vulnerable in the street and these offences cause enormous distress and effect the confidence of vulnerable people."
Detective Constable Lee Blunden said: "At this time of festive cheer and goodwill, it's hard to imagine a less charitable act than stealing from a blind person.
"We would like to thank those members of the public who came forward to help this victim."
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