Oldham woman jailed after 10 day crime spree

Maria Spirache

An Oldham woman who quit her job because it was "too tough" to go on a stealing spree has been jailed.

Maria Spirache, 20, played her part in the distraction thefts targetting the vulnerable in the centre of Manchester.

Working with another woman Spirache, of Abbey Hills Road, would use well rehearsed tactics to distract victims before taking cash and property.

One of the many disguises the two deployed was pretending they were from a charity before using clipboards to distract shoppers to take their mobile or cash.

Their victims included an 88-year-old woman, a man on a scooter and a student depositing nearly £9,000 in a bank, after saving up the money for months.

Spirache, who's orginally from Romania and speaks no English has been sentenced to 32 months in a young offenders institution.