Three women have been jailed after working together to target lone women in a series of distraction robberies across Manchester. Geta Schian, Geneza Dumitru and Sefora Mazarache were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, 3 July 2026, after admitting their roles in a string of offences in which victims were distracted with hugs, compliments and conversation before jewellery and valuables were stolen.
The court heard the trio deliberately targeted women who were alone in public places, using physical contact to remove jewellery and attempt to steal mobile phones.
Mother targeted on school run
One incident took place on 9 October 2025 on Meldon Road, Rusholme, when Sefora Mazarache, 27, approached a mother who was walking her young son to nursery. Mazarache complimented the woman and her child before taking hold of her hand and attempting to pull a ring from her finger, causing her pain.
When the woman pulled away, Mazarache also tried to snatch her mobile phone before leaving the scene as the victim shouted for help.
Victim robbed under archway
On 27 November 2025, a woman walking home along Oxford Road was approached by Mazarache and Geta Schian, 33. The pair hugged the victim and asked her for money and food before leading her beneath an archway.
While distracting her, one of the women reached up her sleeve and removed a gold bracelet before both fled in different directions.
Elderly woman targeted
A further attempted robbery took place on 10 January 2026 on Oxford Street, where all three women approached another woman waiting for her daughter. While two distracted the victim with conversation, one attempted to remove a ring from her finger before the group fled when she shouted for help.
Later the same afternoon, at around 3.30pm, Mazarache and Schian targeted a 97-year-old woman waiting for her husband on Dale Street. The court heard the pair held the elderly woman’s hands, hugged and kissed her before stealing a jade antique bracelet from her wrist.
Arrests and sentencing
Police arrested Schian, Mazarache and Dumitru on 14 January 2026 following an investigation into the offences. At Manchester Crown Court, the trio received a combined prison sentence of more than six years.
The sentences imposed were:
- Geta Schian (16 July 1992), of Calbourne Avenue, East London – 28 months’ imprisonment for attempted theft from a person.
- Sefora Mazarache (8 September 1998), of Jessop Street, Manchester – 38 months’ imprisonment for attempted robbery.
- Geneza Dumitru (15 September 1990), of Dukinfield Road, Manchester – 28 months’ imprisonment for robbery.
Greater Manchester Police said the investigation brought an end to a series of offences that preyed on vulnerable members of the public, including an elderly victim, and urged anyone who experiences similar distraction thefts to report them immediately.
Originally published by UKNIP.
