Express & Star

Couple took designer clothing worth more than £100,000 in shoplifting spree

A couple from Bearwood who stole clothes worth more than £100,000 on a shoplifting spree at designer shops including at the Bullring are now behind bars.

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Smartly dressed husband and wife Ionut and Mirela Vasile struck at luxury outlets Louis Vuitton, Harvey Nichols and Burberry the length and breadth of the country – from Scotland to London.

They perfected a tactic of distracting fitting room staff and hiding clothes in changing booths for accomplices to scoop up and smuggle through security detectors in foil-lined bags. They first struck at the Michael Kors store in the Bullring in January 2015. Birmingham city centre cops then picked up the investigation following two high-end heists at Harvey Nichols in the space of a few weeks.

Security staff detained 35-year-old Ionut Vasile and a suspected getaway driver as they fled The Mailbox on December 11 2015.

Enquiries at stores across the UK uncovered CCTV footage showing the group pulling off the shoplift scam in Manchester, Edinburgh, London, Nottingham and Milton Keynes.

It led to 34-year-old Mirela Vasile and a female accomplice being arrested on April 27 last year. They were arrested at Ionut and Mirela's home in Richmond Road.

Several thousand pounds worth of clothing was found at the address.

The Vasiles admitted conspiracy to steal and at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday and were both jailed for three years.

Birmingham city centre neighbourhood Sergeant Julia Slater, said: "Our investigation has linked them to stolen clothing valued at £106,000 but we suspect they could have taken much more and have perhaps committed hundreds of thefts since they arrived in the country."

Officers are liaising with prosecutors to secure European Arrest Warrants for the two other suspects who are believed to have fled the country while on bail.

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