A distraction thief stole an envelope containing £1,000 from a woman’s handbag and then went onto use her bank card in two stores.

Marina Vasileva committed the offence in Blackburn town centre on April 4 and was identified following painstaking CCTV enquiries carried out by Blackburn with Darwen neighbourhood police.

Officers still need to identify a second woman captured on the CCTV footage carrying a t-shirt as part of their ongoing enquiries.

The victim, a woman in her 60s, had withdrawn the money from the NatWest Bank just after 12.25pm and put it into an envelope, along with her bank card.

She put the envelope in her handbag and sat down on a bench outside the bank, before going to a charity shop.

She was then followed by an unidentified woman into the charity shop, who was latterly joined by 29-year-old Vasileva.

While the victim was distracted, the envelope was taken from her handbag.

Vasileva and the second woman left the charity shop and entered the Farmfoods store, where Vasileva used a stolen bank card to make three fraudulent transactions of £20.48, £45.81 and £20.48.

Two further transactions were made at Outdoor Action.

Vasileva, of Woodhouse Grove, Huddersfield, was identified and charged with theft from the person and fraud by false representation.

She admitted the offences when she appeared at Burnley Magistrates Court.

Last week she was sentenced to four months custody, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £1,000 compensation. She was also told to complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

PC Mark Slater, of the Blackburn with Darwen neighbourhood policing team, said: “This was a really calculated offence committed against a vulnerable woman who was entitled to go shopping without fear of having her money stolen.

“If anybody recognises the woman in the CCTV footage carrying the item of clothing, I would ask them to contact me directly by emailing 8176@lancashire.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting log 769 of April 4, 2023.”