A ROBBER whose victims included a 91-year-old disabled woman in a mobility scooter has been jailed.

George Ciubotaru, 22, of Chingford Mount Road, Chingford, targeted vulnerable, elderly people across the borough during a three-week mugging spree in 2009.

Ciubotaru approached his oldest victim as she sat in her mobility scooter in the grounds of Electric House, a sheltered housing complex in Teresa Mews, Walthamstow, at 4pm on December 15 of that year.

He waved a newspaper in front of her before grabbing a bag attached to her waste.

Ciubotaru also mugged five other men and women, including three aged in their eighties, in Walthamstow and Leyton, as well as a 32-year-old man in Walthamstow Central Library.

Police searched through hours of CCTV in an attempt to trace the robber, but later learned he had left the country for Romania or Italy.

However, he was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Waltham Forest in March this year and later charged with six robberies, a burglary and a theft.

He was found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court earlier this month and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.

Detective Constable Ray Anderson said: "This man has been convicted following a despicable spate of robberies against elderly and vulnerable victims.

"The conviction of this individual reaffirms our commitment to bring offenders to justice and protect our community."