FOUR pickpockets who targeted an elderly woman and other passengers on a crowded bus in Shepherd's Bush have been jailed.

The gang members were followed by undercover police 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.

Some of the thieves were sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on January 19. The others were sentenced at a separate hearing on February 9 for the offences, 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 Police Safer Transport Command,

which is funded by Transport for London. It is one of several initiatives to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour on routes like the 207, which has one of the highest levels of reported incidents in London.