A purse dipper feigned innocence and pleaded "I wouldn't do that, that's the lowest of the low" when he was confronted by an elderly woman after targeting her in an Asda supermarket.
Paul Lipson callously stole from several OAPs aged up to 97 as they shopped in stores including Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury's. When challenged on another occasion, he brazenly claimed that his victim had dementia and he was her carer.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that one incident at Sainsbury's on Lord Street in Southport on May 20 last year saw the prolific thief stand "close behind" a 97-year-old woman who was browsing a shelf of books. The 53-year-old then stole her handbag, which contained £378.25 following a withdrawal from a cash machine shortly beforehand, from a plastic bag in her trolley.
