Despicable purse thieves in action in Huddersfield town centre
Sep 8 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Despicable purse thieves in action in Huddersfield town centre
Our new weekly column written by Kirklees police officer Det Insp Mark Truelove concentrates on purse thieves this week
FEW crimes are as despicable as purse-dipping – and a 95-year-old woman is one of those to fall victim in Huddersfield in a recent spate of offences.
These offenders prey on the elderly and vulnerable to steal their cash – and there have been 76 recorded offences of this nature across Kirklees between August 1 and last Sunday.
Huddersfield town centre is the hotspot area with 43 crimes happening there over the last month.
The number of purse-dipping offences during the day is 35 – and 21 of them happened to victims aged over 65.
The main areas where these crimes are happening are at Kirklees open market and at shops on busy New Street.
Charity shops are a favourite location for these type of criminals. Thursday is the busiest day of the week for purse-dipping criminals – perhaps because it is market and pension day – with more elderly victims on Mondays than any other days.
The peak time for the thieves to strike is between 11am and noon.
Now 150 eye-catching posters are being distributed around town in a bid to warn shoppers that the thieves are about.
Anyone who commits any offence against the elderly and, in some cases, the most vulnerable in our community have no morals or conscience in my view and need arresting and bringing to justice immediately.
These type of offences really are despicable and I am appealing to anyone who can tell me anything about the people involved to contact Crimestoppers.
Check out our CCTV images on the next page to see if you can help the police.
