"Police in Cardiff were today searching for a gang of 15 men, believed to
be from the Liverpool area, after a valuable piece of antique silverware was
stolen from the Millennium Stadium.
The silver was smuggled out of the stadium in full view of almost 70,000
people following an unprovoked attack on a party of elderly visitors from
London.
The mugging took place late on Saturday afternoon as the pensioners from
North London were enjoying a stroll in the spring sunshine.
A spokesman for South Wales police said: "This was a particularly nasty and
cowardly assault.
The attackers lulled the elderly gentlemen into a false sense of security
by standing around doing absolutely nothing for almost an hour.
Then, just as the visitors were about to get back onto their coach and
return to the capital, the vicious young thugs struck."
Police are particularly interested in talking to one member of the gang who
is described as "young, dwarfish, with an annoying girlish smile; a real
Oliver Twist type".
He is believed to be Welsh but adopts a Liverpool accent and claims to be
English.
The gang, which includes several political refugees and illegal immigrants
from Central Europe, is led by a French-speaking "Fagin" who is also a
master forger and pickpocket.
"This man has no scruples whatsoever. We believe he steals most of his
ideas from a near neighbour in Manchester, a man he much admires.
We have interviewed this man, and although he is a former owner of the
silverware and also guilty of a similar crime himself in Barcelona
adopting similar methods some two years ago, he is above reproach."
However, there were fears tonight that the gang had embarked on a crime
spree in Europe themselves.
The police spokesman added: "We have alerted Interpol and are watching all
ports but we fear they may have already left the country. They were
overheard by some witnesses talking about heading for Germany on Wednesday.
We can only hope they won't be back in Wales for a long time to come."