Two men who carried out multiple theft offences in Chester have been jailed.

On Monday 8 June, Valentin Bozu and Laurentiu Mocanu were both sentenced to 12 months at Chester Crown Court.

They pleaded guilty to three counts of theft from the person of another, theft from a shop, theft from a motor vehicle, and two counts of attempted theft from the person of another. Bozu, 25, also admitted being in possession of cannabis.

On 15 April 2026, CCTV captured Mocanu unzipping a woman's backpack and removing a pink carrier bag from it at Chester Bus Interchange,

The pair were again tracked on CCTV entering Tesco in Frodsham Street where they followed another woman and unzipped her backpack. However, the woman turned around and the two men walked away.

Bozu and Mocanu, 40, then entered the Cancer Research store in Watergate Street and stole items of clothing.

After exiting the shop, Mocanu was seen on CCTV reaching through the window of a Mercedes Sprinter, which was parked on the street, and stealing a phone which was inside.

Later that morning, Bozu and Mocanu entered Tesco in Frodsham Street again and attempted to steal items from another woman's backpack but were unsuccessful.

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Shortly after this, a woman in Northgate Street discovered her backpack was unzipped and her purse was missing, which had been removed.

The pair were then caught stealing items from another woman's bag on Brookdale Place. Once the woman realised what was happening, she ran after Mocanu, who gave her items back.

Officers were made aware of the incidents by CCTV operators and Bozu and Mocanu were arrested on Brook Street. Mocanu was spotted throwing a purse behind a bin as officers approached.

Police Constable Kilshaw said: "Bozu and Mocanu both attended Chester with the sole purpose of trying to make a financial gain for themselves.

"They didn't stick to one method of offending – they targeted a vehicle, a charity shop, and were even as brazen as to steal from people's bags while they were carrying them.

"Thanks to the work of the CCTV operators in Chester city centre, their offending was captured and they had no choice but to admit their guilt and are now facing time behind bars."