Jurors have watched CCTV footage of a pensioner passing a bundle of cash to a fake cop during a 'courier fraud' trial.

The Darlington man could be seen opening the door to a woman wearing a high-vis jacket before handing over thousands of pounds he had withdrawn from his bank.

Teesside Crown Court heard how scammers posing as Scotland Yard officers persuaded a number of targets to hand over after engaging them in a series of phone calls convincing them their bank accounts had been compromised.

Two Darlington pensioners are among the alleged victims who withdrew thousands of pounds in cash before handing it over to couriers who called at their homes in the early hours of the morning.

Matthew Bean, prosecuting, said detectives had managed to collect CCTV images, digital data and mobile phone locations to track down the gang accused of fleecing thousands of pounds out of vulnerable people.

Read next: Darlington pensioners fleeced out of life savings by 'fake cops' and lost thousands

The jury watched the CCTV footage of a woman, the prosecution say is Sheronica Davis Mitchell, arrive at the pensioner's door after driving from her London home in a hire car.

Earlier, the court had heard how the pensioner had been given a codeword to listen out for before handing the cash over the fake officer to be deposited into a safe account.

Mr Bean said digital data recovered from the car, which had been hired by Mitchell, showed the vehicle parked up near to the pensioner's home at the time the cash was handed over.

Police analysis of mobile phone networks also showed the accused had also been in contact with one of her co-accused, Arris Qumar, after she made the return journey to the capital in September 2020.

Further CCTV showed the pair meet up at a service station just four hours after the pensioner had passed the cash to the fake cop.

Jurors had heard how the Darlington men also bought Rolex watches for the suspected gang members with one of them losing more £120,000 to fraudsters in September 2020.

The victims were telephoned over a number of days by men claiming to be Fraud Squad officers from the Yard who told them that their bank accounts had been compromised, and to replace the receiver and to call 999.

But the scammers had kept the line open, and the victims were then in the hands of fake officers who told them to empty their bank accounts and hand the money over to police couriers for it to be deposited in new safe bank accounts.

Awais Zaman, 23, and 26-year-old Qumar, both from Coventry; Mitchell, 26, from Lewisham, London; and 25-year-old Mya Haskins from Rugby; have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to dishonestly make false representation to make gain for themselves.

Drunken thug knocked his friend out cold with single punch in a North East pub

Air pistol and sword recovered from suspected drugs den at North East home

Cruel Darlington couple jailed for physically abusing three young children

We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.

Please report any comments that break our rules.

Commments are closed on this article

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here

© 2001-2022. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. A Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. HP10 9TY. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |

Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event.

As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.