Cunning City Phone Thief Jailed

A prolific City of London mobile phone thief, who perfected a newspaper distraction ploy, has been jailed for a year.

Vasile Mihai, 29, was hunted by Square Mile police, alerted to an active mobile phone thief on their patch.

He was eventually arrested in Ludgate Hill on June 23 by officers from City of London Police's Crime Squad.

Homeless Mihai would enter businesses and offices where he had spotted a mobile phone on the receptionist's desk.

He would engage the member of staff in conversation, such as asking about employment or requesting money while placing a newspaper over the phone.

Mihai would then remove both the phone and newspaper and leave.

Mihai targeted a number of business throughout the City of London between March and June, 2021 before his arrest.

At Inner London Crown Court he was convicted of seven offences, totalling over £5,000.

Inspector Caroline Hay said: “A custodial sentence is a great result for both our Crime Squad, and officers from our Force Resolution Centre (FRC) who have worked together scrolling through hours of CCTV to get this criminal off of our streets.

“Many of Mihai’s targets had no insurance for their devices, resulting in a substantial cost, as well as the devastation of losing all of their personal data on their phones, such as bank details or irreplaceable photographs.

“As restrictions ease and more people have returned to work in the City, we want criminals to know that our officers will do everything in their power to catch and convict offenders.”

Mihai was also given a criminal behaviour order restricting his possession of mobile phones, laptops and tablets for the next five years.