Adelaida Ioana, 33, colluded with her boyfriend to steal from a pensioner, aged in her 80s, at a Stratford-upon-Avon Waitrose supermarket in May 2016, Warwick Crown Court heard. The couple watched the OAP enter her PIN number at the checkout before following her home to steal her credit card when they pretended to ask for directions.

       After being arrested and granted bail, Ioana fled the country and remained at large for almost five years before being arrested in Romania.

       Ioana was extradited back to the UK to face charges of theft and fraud, which she pleaded guilty to.

       But she was spared prison by a judge on Friday who sentenced her to a community order for 18 months and an 8pm-7am curfew for two months.

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       The court heard Ioana, who had no previous convictions, was now with a new partner and was expecting her second child in November.

       Jane Carpenter, defending, said Ioana’s partner at the time, who has never been caught and is believed to now be wanted in Canada for fraud, was abusive and controlling.

       She also claimed he had planned the offence and she felt under pressure to take part.

       Sentencing Judge Peter Cooke told her: “However horrible your boyfriend at the time was, for you to involve yourself in stealing from a vulnerable old lady in such a scheming and devious way was a wicked thing to do.

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