"Police in Cardiff were today searching for a gang of 15 men, believed to be from the Liverpool area, after a valuable piece of antique silverware was stolen from the Millennium Stadium.

The silver was smuggled out of the stadium in full view of almost 70,000 people following an unprovoked attack on a party of elderly visitors from London. The mugging took place late on Saturday afternoon as the pensioners from North London were enjoying a stroll in the spring sunshine.

A spokesman for South Wales police said: "This was a particularly nasty and cowardly assault. The attackers lulled the elderly gentlemen into a false sense of security by standing around doing absolutely nothing for almost an hour. Then, just as the visitors were about to get back onto their coach and return to the capital, the vicious young thugs struck."

Police are particularly interested in talking to one member of the gang who is described as "young, dwarfish, with an annoying girlish smile; a real Oliver Twist type". He is believed to be Welsh but adopts a Liverpool accent and claims to be English.

The gang, which includes several political refugees and illegal immigrants from Central Europe, is led by a French-speaking "Fagin" who is also a master forger and pickpocket. "This man has no scruples whatsoever. We believe he steals most of his ideas from a near neighbour in Lancashire; a man he much admires. We have interviewed this man, and although he is a former owner of the property and also guilty of a similar crime himself in Barcelona adopting similar methods some two years ago, he is above reproach."

However, there were fears tonight that the gang had embarked on a crime spree in Europe themselves. The police spokesman added: "We have alerted Interpol and are watching all ports but we fear they may have already left the country. They were overheard by some witnesses talking about heading for Germany on Wednesday. We can only hope they won't be back in Wales for a long time to come."

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001

Answers

Bliddy Hell. That's twice. Sounds like a crime wave. Can I see a pattern emerging here? Like somebody who doesn't read all the threads ;-)

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001