Pickpocket girl gang caught targeting Oxford Street shoppers in dramatic footage

The moment an undercover police officer swooped on a pickpocketing girl gang as they "circled their prey like sharks" has been captured in body-cam footage.



The three Bulgarian women work together as they surround their victim and try and sneak their hands into a handbag in the crowds.



But one is caught red-handed as she rifles through a shopper's purse on London's bustling Oxford Street.



The attempted theft came minutes after they failed to steal from a tourist who felt someone try and open her bag and challenged the pickpocketer.



Plain clothes Metropolitan Police officer Sergeant Steve Stamp was already near the scene following reports an 80-year-old woman had been 'dipped' and had her purse stolen.



It is then that Sgt Stamp spots the suspects as they try to steal from another shopper further down the street.