Caught on last day with cash, phones and iPods after Tube spree

A seven-strong family gang of pickpockets from �Romania used a Stratford hotel as their base while they embarked on a thieving spree targeting Tube passengers.

In their rooms stolen mobile phones, iPods and almost �2,500 in cash, including Euros and Scottish notes, were recovered.

The six men and one woman were jailed at Blackfriars Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal.

All have also been given anti-social behaviour orders banning them from the London Underground network for five years.

Police were led to the hotel on Romford Road after plain clothed officers of the British Transport Police arrested �a man and woman at �Oxford �Circus station for pickpocketing on January 18.

They told detectives that they were staying in a hotel near Stratford rail station. Further inquiries revealed the pair was part of a larger group of Romanians who had booked other rooms in the hotel for six days.

These rooms were searched on January 20, the final day of their stay, and their haul was discovered.

They claimed they had bought the phones and iPods, and that the money was theirs, but �the goods were stolen and they had no legitimate income to account for the cash.

In a statement after sentencing Det Cons Ed Torrance said: “These seven people are part of an organised group of pickpockets who travel to different countries and steal from unsuspecting members of the public before returning home.

“I hope this sentence will be a deterrent to anyone who thinks they can come to London and commit this type of crime as it shows just how seriously it is taken by the courts.”

He added: “Adriana Boaca even left her 10-year-old child in the hotel while the group went out to steal.”

Ion Boaca, 44, and Adrian Boaca, 43, were sentenced to 21 months imprisonment while Antinovici Duduianu, 36, �received 18 months. Gheorge Boaca, 52 and Marin Ilie, 56, each received a 15 month sentence; Marian Morar, 35, got a 13-month term and Adriana Boaca, 37, will serve 12 months.

Adrian, Ion and Gheorge Boaca are brothers. Gheorge is married to Adriana Boaca. Morar, Ilie and Duduianu are related to the Boacas.