Thief who tailed pregnant woman from bank to Penneys is jailed

Isabel Hayes

A woman who followed a heavily pregnant woman out of a bank and stole over €11,000 that she had just withdrawn to fund the birth of her baby has been jailed for nine months.

Elizaveta Vasileva (42) had arrived in Ireland from Bulgaria one week previously and was looking to make money to fund an eye implant in Turkey when she carried out the theft, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.

On March 23 this year, she followed the seven-month pregnant woman into Bank of Ireland, Main Street, Swords and was seen on CCTV footage sitting in the lobby within hearing distance of the transaction.

The woman was withdrawing €11,350 in savings to fund the birth and care of her child in her native Romania and the amount was mentioned a few times in the course of the transaction, John Quirke BL, prosecuting, told the court.

Vasileva was again seen on CCTV footage following the woman after she left the bank with the money in an envelope in her backpack.

The victim was shopping in the childrenswear section of Penneys, Swords, a few minutes later when Vasileva deliberately bumped into her while holding a handful of clothes. The victim felt a tug on her back and realised her backpack had been opened and the envelope of money was gone.

Vasileva fled the store, leaving the clothes on the floor, and removed her coat and glasses as she ran in an attempt to change her appearance.

The victim chased her, despite her condition, and alerted other members of the public and her brother-in-law, who also came to her aid. Vasileva was caught in a nearby car park and members of the public made a citizen's arrest and brought her to the nearby Garda station.

The money was recovered and given back to the injured party.

When arrested and interviewed, Vasileva claimed she had found the envelope on the shop floor and was planning to hand it in to security.

She pleaded guilty to one count of theft at the store on March 23 this year. Vasileva, of an unknown address in Bulgaria, has no previous convictions in this jurisdiction and gardaí were unable to find any convictions in other jurisdictions.

In a victim impact statement which was handed into court, the injured party said she went into contractions and had to be hospitalised after the theft, which she said caused her extreme stress.

Annette Kealy, defending, said Vasileva has had numerous facial surgeries due to a tumour and has had an eye implant, with a further one required in Turkey.

She arrived in Ireland exactly one week prior to this offence with the aim of saving up money for the surgery. She has two adult children and previously worked as a kitchen porter, the court heard.

Sentencing Vasileva, Judge Orla Crowe said this was “no ordinary theft” but a serious set of circumstances which involved targeting and following the victim.

The judge noted Vasileva followed the woman into the shop and affected a “sophisticated encounter” before stealing the envelope of money. She said the money was recovered “thanks to the bravery of the injured party and quick thinking by members of the public”.

She set a headline sentence of 18 months, which she reduced to nine months taking mitigating factors into account, including Vasileva's guilty plea and the fact she will find her time in custody harder as a foreign national.

She backdated the sentence to last March when Vasileva went into custody.