Heartless Foreign Thieves Nicked Train Passengers Bags

A pair of heartless bag thieves, who teamed up to target victims in rail station cafés, have been jailed following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

Hernan Montero-Villegas, 54, (L) and Miguel Angel Contreras-Nova, 39, (R) pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft and one count of money laundering.

At Inner London Crown Court Montero-Villegas received 18 months imprisonment and Contreras-Nova 14 months imprisonment.

The first incident occurred on February 25 when Montero-Villegas targeted a 54-year-old woman, who was drinking a cup of tea in Liverpool Street station’s Soho Coffee café.

He spotted her rucksack on the floor and began manoeuvring it away from her with his foot, before taking his own rucksack off, concealing hers behind it and leaving with both.

The victim’s rucksack contained €100, £40, her driving licence, bank cards and a phone charger.

Less than a month later, on March 22, Montero-Villegas and Contreras-Nova stole a 50-year-old woman’s bag from the Starbucks inside London Waterloo station as she sat with her colleagues.

Contreras-Nova pretended to be on the phone and walked around the café while Montero-Villegas again used his foot to move the bag away from the victim. 

He picked it up and left the café with Contreras-Nova in tow.

Her bag contained a purse containing £200 and other various items including her reading glasses and an umbrella.

The final offence occurred on March 28 in London St Pancras’ Paul Express café when Montero-Villegas and Contreras-Nova again combined to swipe a 50-year-old man’s satchel.

It contained two Eurostar tickets, a film script, earphones, a phone charger and his passport.

Just two days later, on March 30, a BTP officer patrolling London Bridge station spotted the pair and arrested them in connection to the bag thefts.

They also had £3,000 cash on them.

PC Steve Bryan said: “Montero-Villegas and Contreras-Nova are clearly experienced bag snatchers, who have refined their tactics to avoid being detected by the unsuspecting victims they target.

“What they failed to realise is that the railway is a CCTV-rich environment and here at BTP we are relentless in our pursuit of thieves. We won’t stop until they’re put before the courts.

“I hope the adequately long prison terms handed down to them provides the three victims with the comfort of justice being served.

“If you’re a victim of theft on the railway, report it to us as soon as possible by texting 61016 – we’ll always take swift action.”