- Ion Anghel, 48, targeted war veteran, 93, at ATM in Grantham, Lincolnshire
- He and two accomplices surrounded Neville Corbett inside a NatWest bank
- Distracted ex-WWII soldier by dropping £20 note on floor then stole card
- Anghel had carried out similar distraction thefts on Continent, court heard
- Mr Corbett, 93, was disabled after losing an arm fighting for the Desert Rats
A callous Romanian conman who stole £23,000 in life savings from a disabled war veteran after distracting him as he used a cash machine has been jailed for three years.
Ion Anghel was one of a three-man gang of Romanians who surrounded Neville Corbett, 93, as he used an ATM inside the Nat West Bank in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
Mr Corbett, who served with the Desert Rats in North Africa, was disabled after losing an arm while fighting at El Alamein.
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He was distracted after a £20 note was dropped on the floor as he collected his money out of the machine.
The gang switched his bank card for one they had stolen earlier.
They then used his card 27 times over the next two days, buying thousands of pounds worth of goods including iPhones and a £13,800 car.
Lincoln Crown Court was told that Anghel had committed similar offences across Europe, carrying out distraction thefts in Italy and Denmark as well as in the UK.
