VIDEO: 'Fagin-style' crime bosses sending ‘schoolboy’ gangs to Blackburn

8:30am Friday 19th March 2010

By Sam Chadderton

A GANG of 14-year-old Romanian children operated by ‘Fagin-like’ masters have been targeting Blackburn shoppers.

Police said they had never seen anything like the tactics used to steal money from people using cashpoints.

They released CCTV footage of the gang in action and warned people to be ‘extra vigilant’.

There are fears the Romanian children were trafficked into Britain by organised crime groups who teach them how to shoplift and steal for their masters in big cities such as London, Cardiff and Manchester.

Although officers in Blackburn’s Community Cohesion unit said there was a ‘miniscule’ Romanian population in the town, it would appear the town has become the latest target for the crime gangs.

The details came to light after three members of the schoolboy gang pleaded guilty to a cashpoint distraction theft of £200 on March 8.

It emerged in Blackburn Youth Court that one of the boys had 21 similar previous offences, including robbery and thefts of person, starting from the age of 12.

In Blackburn, outside the Halifax in King William Street, a team of four worked with two ‘sentries’ standing close by on look-out, while the other two boys waited until the bank card was in and the PIN entered.

At that point, they closed in, shouting in Romanian and waving newspapers in the face of the person to confuse, irritate or distract.

One of them then slipped in and quickly pressed two buttons - ‘withdraw cash’ and then ‘£200’ - before taking the cash and leaving.

The victim was so bewildered that it was only when she got home and contacted her bank that she was told the cash had been taken.

In police interview, the gang admitted two successful thefts and two further attempts, officers said.

Town centre CCTV footage shows a failed attempt taking place at the Yorkshire Bank link cashpoint inside The Mall, close to King William Street, 20 minutes after the Halifax theft.

Town centre Sergeant Alan Clayton said: “We don’t want people in Blackburn to be scared, just to be extra vigilant.”

PC Dave Hall said: “I’ve been a police officer for 13 years and I’ve never seen this method before.

“They must have been taught. They do not seem remotely concerned how busy it is.

"Criminals like to operate in deserted areas, but it makes no difference to them.

“At first we thought they were targeting lone females, but it appears they are not bothered who they go after.

“We believe there have been other incidents in Blackburn and people should come forward and report it.

“In interview, the children stated they had got £200 each, but we only seized £60 and they claimed the fourth boy had run off with the rest.”

The boy with the previous convictions was given a 12-month detention and training order for the theft at Halifax, King William Street, and his two allies are due to be sentenced at Manchester Youth Court on March 29.

On the youth's previous convictions, PC Hall said: "I have never seen anyone of that age with such a horrendous, astonishing record."

He paid tribute to security staff at The Mall and Townsmoor Retail Park who both gave chase and caught the youthful gang.

The third teenager made it as far as Staples in Lower Audley Street before he was caught by determined guards.

Police had to bring an interpreter from Oxford to question the Romanian children, and were able to identify them from their school uniform, which was from the Manchester area.

PC Hall said: “One line of inquiry is that an adult family member is behind it.

"They should consider removing their card, reporting it to the police and using a different cash machine."

A Home Office working group is currently looking at how to send trafficked Romanian children back within the constraints of the European treaty.