A NOTORIOUS pickpocket who has been targeting elderly train and bus passengers for three years has been jailed.

Gary Rhoden, aged 38, had been stealing from commuters in Lewisham and Bromley since 2007 but has now been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison before he is deported back to his home country of Jamaica.

The Brixton thief was sentenced for 21 counts of theft at Southwark Crown Court including eight offences on the London underground and 13 on buses - all between early 2007 and April last year.

Rhoden, who pleaded guity to all 21 charges, operated with two other men who have already both received three-year jail terms.

But he was handed an additional six months because his victims, including a visually impaired woman and a woman travelling with her disabled son, were considered by the judge to be vulnerable.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Kathryn Faine, from British Police Transport said: "Rhoden went out on the tube with the sole intention of committing theft and shamelessly exploited the vulnerabilities of his victims, who were all aged between 58 and 75.

"He targeted women carrying handbags and stole purses, cash and phones, as well as targeting elderly men travelling alone."

Rhoden used stolen bankcards to treat himself to luxury items from Harrods, including clothes and aftershave.

However, CCTV footage from the store as well as from tube stations showed him using stolen cards.

Many of Rhoden's victims were also from Southwark.