Jurors have watched CCTV footage of a pensioner passing a bundle of cash to a fake cop during a 'courier fraud' trial.

The Darlington man could be seen opening the door to a woman wearing a high-vis jacket before handing over thousands of pounds he had withdrawn from his bank.

Teesside Crown Court heard how scammers posing as Scotland Yard officers persuaded a number of targets to hand over after engaging them in a series of phone calls convincing them their bank accounts had been compromised.

Two Darlington pensioners are among the alleged victims who withdrew thousands of pounds in cash before handing it over to couriers who called at their homes in the early hours of the morning.

Matthew Bean, prosecuting, said detectives had managed to collect CCTV images, digital data and mobile phone locations to track down the gang accused of fleecing thousands of pounds out of vulnerable people.

Read next: Darlington pensioners fleeced out of life savings by 'fake cops' and lost thousands

The jury watched the CCTV footage of a woman, the prosecution say is Sheronica Davis Mitchell, arrive at the pensioner's door after driving from her London home in a hire car.

Earlier, the court had heard how the pensioner had been given a codeword to listen out for before handing the cash over the fake officer to be deposited into a safe account.

Mr Bean said digital data recovered from the car, which had been hired by Mitchell, showed the vehicle parked up near to the pensioner's home at the time the cash was handed over.

Police analysis of mobile phone networks also showed the accused had also been in contact with one of her co-accused, Arris Qumar, after she made the return journey to the capital in September 2020.

Further CCTV showed the pair meet up at a service station just four hours after the pensioner had passed the cash to the fake cop.

Jurors had heard how the Darlington men also bought Rolex watches for the suspected gang members with one of them losing more £120,000 to fraudsters in September 2020.

The victims were telephoned over a number of days by men claiming to be Fraud Squad officers from the Yard who told them that their bank accounts had been compromised, and to replace the receiver and to call 999.

But the scammers had kept the line open, and the victims were then in the hands of fake officers who told them to empty their bank accounts and hand the money over to police couriers for it to be deposited in new safe bank accounts.

Awais Zaman, 23, and 26-year-old Qumar, both from Coventry; Mitchell, 26, from Lewisham, London; and 25-year-old Mya Haskins from Rugby; have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to dishonestly make false representation to make gain for themselves.

The trial continues.

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