The case was heard at Maidstone Crown Court

by Julia Roberts

Two Romanians, one a pregnant mother-of-four, have been convicted of stealing expensive iPhones and charity collection boxes from shops and salons across Kent.

Elana Stoian, 23, was one of three women who used a variety of distraction techniques as they targetted hairdressers', tanning shops, a music store, an estate agents', a wedding shop and a branch of McDonald's during a three-week crime spree.

The gang were driven in an Audi A6 from their homes in Essex by 19-year-old Roger Sandhu to carry out thefts in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Southborough, Pembury and Sittingbourne between October 12 and November 2 last year.

One theft was of a collection box for Great Ormond Street Hospital from a hair salon in London Road, Southborough.

Other collection boxes, including one for the Poppy Appeal, were stolen in Sussex.

Stoian, of Somerby Road, Barking, and her brother Sandhu, of King Edward Road, Barking, denied conspiracy to steal mobile phones, charity collection boxes and two pairs of GHD hair straightners, but were convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

The seven men and five women heard at the start of the trial last week that two other women allegedly involved had "absconded".

Adjourning sentence until early October for probation reports, Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said custody remained an option.

"This was an organised, albeit relatively unsophisticated, commercial operation," he said.

Both defendants were assisted by an interpreter throughout the trial.

Stoian, who has previous convictions for theft and shoplifting, was released on bail with conditions of residence and a tagged curfew.

She lives with her children, but the court was not told when her baby is due.

Sandhu's bail conditions also include residence and a tagged curfew, as well as a £1,000 surety.

Outlining the case at the start of the trial, prosecutor Olajide Lanlehin said the gang were tracked by police through mobile phone analysis, automatic number plate recognition cameras and CCTV footage.

The shops and salons targetted included:

• Hair Workshop, London Road, Southborough
• Adrian Clucas Hairdressing, St John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells
• Pembury Beauty Salon, High Street, Pembury
• A Newu Sunhut tanning salon in West Street, Sittingbourne
• The Tanning Rooms, South Park, Sevenoaks.

Mr Lanlehin told the court: "This case involves offences committed by four people of Romanian origin who enter shops or salons and cause some distraction to members of staff and in the course of causing that distraction and by working together, they steal mobile phones and, on occasions, charity boxes."