A purse thief who targeted an elderly woman in Asda feigned innocence and pleaded "I wouldn't do that, that's the lowest of the low" after being confronted.
Paul Lipson stole from several pensioners aged up to 97 as they shopped in stores including Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury's. When he was challenged on another occasion he brazenly claimed that his victim had dementia and he was her carer. One incident at Sainsbury's on Lord Street in Southport saw the prolific thief stand "close behind" a 97-year-old woman who was browsing a shelf of books on May 20 last year.
As reported by the Echo, Liverpool Crown Court heard how the 53-year-old then stole her handbag, which contained £378.25 following a withdrawal from a cash machine shortly beforehand, from a plastic bag in her trolley. Karl Scholz, prosecuting, described how Lipson, of Faversham Road in Norris Green, "had a modus operandi of targeting elderly ladies" and would occasionally place stolen items on shelves when suspicions arose before returning "when the coast was clear".
