A woman who was part of a so-called ‘Rolex Rippers’ gang has been jailed for stealing a watch worth over £15,000 from a pensioner she started to hug and kiss in the street.
Stefania Tinica, 40, also tried to rob another man for his £10,000 Rolex Submariner with an accomplice using the same method, but he managed to break free and they then ran away.
Tinica was only charged with two offences, but there have been a spate of similar incidents around the country.
An organised crime gang believed to be made up of mostly Eastern European women are thought to have carried out more than 30 near-identical thefts across southern England last year.
Thefts took place in counties including Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex, Surrey and Gloucestershire as well as the one in Cheshire.
Hampshire Police reported in December that they were investigating more than 30 incidents of victims targeted for high value watches just in their county alone.
In most cases, the victims were older men who were targeted for their expensive watches.
Romanian national Tinica is the first member of the gang to be convicted.
She and an unknown female accomplice struck in exclusive neighbourhoods at either end of the country five months apart.
On May 30, she saw her 75-year-old victim walking down the road on Bingham Avenue, near to the exclusive Parkstone Golf Club in Poole, Dorset.
Tinica stopped him and suddenly put her arms around him and tried to grab his arm to get him to touch her.
The pensioner broke free and saw her get into a car before realising his £15,930 Rolex Submariner timepiece was missing.
Police identified Tinica from CCTV footage obtained from a nearby property but the watch was never recovered.
She was eventually arrested last November while trying to board a plane at Luton Airport.
The failed robbery happened on January 3 last year, almost 250 miles away by Alderley Edge Golf Club in Cheshire.
Tinica approached Simon Kelly and tried to take his £10,000 Rolex Submariner watch off of him.
Police recovered DNA from Mr Kelly’s wrist and although they identified Tinica as the assailant they were unable to trace her.
Tinica pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted robbery and was jailed for 40 months at Chester Crown Court.
The Home Office said they do not comment on individual cases but the Home Secretary is required by law to deport any foreign national who receives a custodial sentence of at least 12 months unless a specific exemption applies.
Tinica’s victim in the Dorset attack said today that he was glad she had been caught.
The retired City finance worker said he and his brothers had bought themselves the limited edition 50th anniversary submariner watches and despite going to great lengths he had not been able to replace it.
He said: ‘I consider myself very lucky that she has been caught.
‘The insurance company were great and the police were very good too but I’m p****d off I lost the watch.
‘I wore it every day, it was sentimental to me.
‘But I’ve been to every shop imaginable trying to find one and they just looked at me like I was an idiot.
‘Now I just have a Swatch that cost me £83.
‘I’m definitely more wary now, the place where it happened was the last place you would expect it, it’s a very quiet road.’
In another similar case, 64-year-old marine engineer Alan Bruce lost his £14,000 Rolex when two women posed as charity workers to distract him in Wimborne, Dorset, on July 15.
After being shown a photo of Tinica he confirmed that she was not one of them.
Other victims of the Rolex Rippers include retired wine merchant Derek Freestone, 77, who had his £12,500 Rolex Oyster stolen in Emsworth, West Sussex, on July 7 and retired pilot Michael Parry, 84, who had his £15,000 Rolex stolen by a woman posing as a charity worker outside his local supermarket in Bourton-on-the-water, Gloucestershire.
Robin Haycock was targeted for his £20,000 Rolex Daytona in the car park at Ferndown Golf Club, Dorset, on July 17.
And Richard Gray, 79, lost his £8,000 Rolex after two women distracted him outside his home in Canford Cliffs, Poole, in October.
Dorset Police said no further arrests had been made in connection with other similar cases in their area.
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