Two men jailed for a year after stealing £400 from an 81-year-old woman at a Newcastle ATM.
The woman asked for £150. The machine gave her £400. Samoila Vasile and Marian Spirache said it was their money. The crime occurred in Newcastle city center. Prosecutors couldn’t explain how the pair got extra money. They think it was a well-planned scheme.
Vasile is 20, and Spirache is 29. Both are from Oldham, Greater Manchester. They admitted to the theft in court. Spirache is from Romania, and he got another year for violating a deportation order.
The victim used a Lloyds ATM on Grey Street around 10:30 GMT on November 7. The court learned these details. She requested £150 and the machine gave her £400 total in notes. The court heard this information.
Spirache approached her. He said the money was his, claiming the machine didn’t work for him earlier. The woman gave him the cash. Then Vasile came up. He said it was actually his money. He left with the notes.
The woman asked the bank about it. They said the money came from her account. The court was told this. She said she felt “silly and stupid” and now avoids ATMs outside banks. She stated this feeling.
Both thieves had prior dishonesty offenses. Spirache kept entering the UK illegally and had a deportation notice since 2019, after jail. Spirache also had a record abroad. This record included a German jail term for burglary. The court heard this.
Recorder Simon Goldberg KC called the theft “odd”. The method remains unknown, but it looked planned. He mentioned that these two targeted a “vulnerable” woman.