Berlin -- After a life of crime stretching back 53 years, a 70-year-old German woman was finally behind bars on Wednesday after pickpocketing a woman 10 years her senior at the bus stop, police said.

The pensioner, not named by police, first came to the attention of authorities in December 1956 and, during a prolific career of pilfering, had 55 criminal cases brought against her, none of which resulted in a jail term.

Age did not seem to dampen her thieving zeal, however. She was charged 17 times this year alone for a series of petty robberies, including at the nursing home where she resides.

"It was especially dangerous when the 70-year-old had to go into hospital for treatment. During her stay, cash, wallets and medical equipment would regularly vanish from other patients' rooms," the police said.

After the incident at the bus stop, the authorities "had enough -- and prosecutors issued an arrest warrant," police in Aschaffenburg in Bavaria said.

"The investigating judge decided not to pussyfoot around any longer and put the pensioner, who has two suspended sentences of eight and 10 months, behind bars," the statement said.

"The case shows that age alone does not protect people from prison," it added.

AFP/Expatica