A DRUG addict stole more than £1,500 from elderly shoppers as they used Basildon town centre cash points.

Nathan Brown, 29, watched his victims punch in their pin numbers, before reaching over and snatching their card as it was ejected from the machine.

He would then run to another cashpoint and withdraw large sums of cash before the victim had a chance to report it to police.

He was handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Basildon Crown Court.

The court heard Brown and an accomplice, who has never been caught, robbed 69-yearold Ibrahim Mustafe on June 25 as he checked his balance at HSBC in Town Square on June 26.

Later that day Brown stole £180 from 81-year-old Marie Keanon at the Natwest bank cashpoint. Sasha Bailey, prosecuting, told the court Brown used a similar method to steal £300 from Gwyneth Boatman, 83, as she used the Lloyds TSB cashpoint.

He also attempted to steal from John Thompson, 64, as he used a cash machine at the Santander bank in the town.

Brown stole £300 from William Elliott as he withdrew cash at an ATM in Isleworth and £500 from Beatrice Mumbella as she used a machine in Snaresbrook, London.

The court heard Brown was caught after police stopped a VW Golf he was travelling in on April 4 and found him with £500 and Ms Mumbella’s debit card.

Brown, of Beckton, London, told the court he had stolen to fund his drug habit.

In addition to the two-year suspended sentence, he was given a one-year supervision order, and put on a drug rehabilitation programme.