A thief steals 90yr old woman's handbag while she was praying in a church

The CCTV footage captured the moment this thief (pictured above) stole the handbag a 90 year old woman left on the floor of a church as she went to the alter to pray. The incident happened last Ash Wednesday Feb. 18 at St Nicholas Church in Hounslow, west London.

When the old woman returned to her seat and couldn't find her bag, other members of the congregation searched and later found the contents of her bag emptied onto the street - but her money had been taken.

The church reported the case to the police who launched an investigation and found that the thief had been caught on CCTV. His image was released today to the press and police described him as a black man, aged approximately 30 and 6ft tall. He was wearing blue jeans and white trainers.