Police appeal to identify men with links to Hemel Hempstead after woman was pulled to the ground in iPhone robbery

Detectives investigating a phone robbery in Northampton have issued new CCTV images of three men with links to Hemel Hempstead they want to identify.

Officers believe a trio caught on camera at a Northampton supermarket may have information which could help find a male who dragged a woman to the floor and snatched her iPhone after posing as a would-be buyer.

All three men are thought to have links to the Hemel Hempstead area and detectives are asking them, or anyone who recognises them, to get in touch by calling Northamptonshire Police 101 using incident number 21000339961.

Police revealed last month how the thief arranged to meet the victim but grabbed the iPhone 12 Pro Max, worth around £1,100 after she queried what turned out to be a fake bank reference he claimed proved that money had been sent to her account.

She chased him in Marlborough Road, in the St James area of Northampton, but was blocked and pulled to the ground by a second man.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: "A male arrived at the woman's home between 6pm and 6.30pm on June 15 and showed her what he said was a reference from his bank to prove he had transferred the cost of the phone to her.

"She questioned this as fake — which it was — at which point the man took the iPhone and left the address.

"When the woman followed him to retrieve her phone, a second man tried to distract her before resorting to pulling her to the ground in Marlborough Road, Northampton, before both men ran off."