One of Romania's most powerful criminals has warned his country must do something to stop the wave of Gypsy child crime that is sweeping Europe or face a backlash against Romanians.

Simply known as Breliant, he freely boasts a pedigree rich in thieves. But this week on Four Corners he explains that unless gangs run by his countrymen stop using children to rob and steal, the Romanian Gypsies will be driven out of other EU countries.

"(In the past) they stole because it was a necessity, they didn't steal to make fortunes or turn it into a business, as they do nowadays," he said.

"This is something that I disapprove of and that's why I recommend that they should set a limit, they should calm down because the thieving - what they are doing now - it's no longer a national problem. It's happening on an international scale."

Any tourist in Europe knows the threat of street crime is a major problem. Some people are targeted by pickpockets while others are harassed at cash teller machines.

Most of the thieves are young children below the age of 14. In many countries they cannot be held criminally responsible until they pass 14 years.

Lucrative

One of the children spoken to by Four Corners is 13-year-old Daniela.

She has little or no education but pickpocketing in Madrid can earn her up to $500 for a successful robbery. If she gets away with her scam she takes the money to her mother. It is used to buy food and some of it is repatriated to Romania to buy a house.

This week's Four Corners reveals that while some children steal to survive, many are part of a network of organised groups that rob tourists and locals, passing the money back to crime bosses in Romania.

The wave of crime perpetrated by Gypsy children began in earnest when Romania was admitted to the EU.

It is now so bad that authorities in the major Italian city of Milan have declared a state of emergency. The city officials authorised police to set up an undercover operation that used hidden cameras and telephone taps to arrest dozens of people.

In all, 19 adults were jailed for theft and the abuse of children. The investigation found some children were generating up to $15,000 to $20,000 a month from their criminal activities.

That did not mean the children were well-treated. In one raid, police broke into a farmhouse and found children locked in a cupboard. They were unwashed and malnourished.

Mistreatment

The raids and the prosecutions have not stopped the crime wave. Producer Liviu Tipurita used hidden cameras to film children in several locations stealing from locals and tourists. He then tracked the children back to the slums that are their homes. What he found is shocking.

While the rest of Europe boasts an expensive public education and welfare system, a majority of Gypsy children do not attend school. Many live in tin sheds next to rubbish dumps with no running water or official power sources.

The Four Corners report also details the Gypsy practice of selling female children into marriage. Secret filming shows a 13-year-old girl's wedding celebration underway. She has been sold for nearly $10,000.

In the first instance she is valuable because she is a virgin, but her major selling point is her ability to steal up to $600 a day. Her husband fully expects she will quickly provide him a return on his investment.

The response to the crime wave varies. Some right-wing political activists want the Gypsies killed. Other groups are trying to socialise them by educating children and encouraging the older Roma, as they are also called, to take jobs.

Whatever the response has been, so far it is clear more needs to be done and if governments do not react in a positive way there may be violence and possibly even deaths as citizens take the law into their own hands.

Four Corners: Gypsy Child Thieves goes to air at 8:30 tonight on ABC1.