A team of pickpockets who targeted an elderly lady and other passengers on a busy bus in Shepherd's Bush have been put behind bars.
The gang of four were followed by an undercover police squad as they boarded the bendy 207, and were watched as they kept swapping seats and moving around the bus.
When they got off, officers arrested them and found a mobile phone belonging to the elderly victim on one of the culprits, Patrick Glowacki.
Glowacki, 27, of Ilford in Essex, was sentenced to six months in prison for theft and another six months for breaching a court order.
His accomplices included Kristian Dolinski, 33, of Hanbury Road, Acton, who was jailed for eight months; Anna Tasior, 27, also of Ilford, who received a six month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and Jerzy Kasperowicz, 35, of Western Avenue, Acton, who was jailed for four months.
The gang was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on January 19 and and February 9 for the crime which happened in January last year.
Chief Superintendent Joe Royle said: "Thanks to the observations of the pickpocket squad officers, this gang of thieves was caught and brought to justice."
The operation was run by the Met's Safer Transport Command, which is funded by Transport for London. It is one of several initiatives to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour on routes like the 207, which has one of the highest number of reported incidents in London.
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