Gang on bikes who snatched phones worth £20,000 jailed | UK News
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Three e-bike riding thieves who snatched £20,000 worth of phones from pedestrians in London have been sentenced.
Kie Joyce, 21, and a 16-year-old boy who can’t be named for legal reasons, werejailed for three and a half years and six months respectively, while another 16-year-old boy, who also can’t be named, was handed a supervision order.
CCTV footage of the trio swiping phones from people in Greenwich and Bermondsey was shared by the Metropolitan Police.
The force, which launched an investigation against the gang last year, also published police bodycam footage of the moment one of the thieves was arrested in a London KFC restaurant.
After the arrest 32 stolen phones were found by officers, with 30 handed back to their owners.
The Met said the group targeted individuals by aggressively riding their bikes on pavements and approaching people at high speeds, ‘creating an intimidating environment that made it difficult for victims to react or escape’.
PC Alex Earley, who led the investigation, said: ‘I am pleased our investigation has brought three offenders to justice for their part to play in a spate of phone thefts in our local area.’
Joyce, of Neckinger Estate, Bermondsey was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment on September 19 at Inner London Crown Court in Newington for conspiracy to steal and eight counts of dangerous driving offences.
One of the 16-year-old boys was sentenced to six months on Friday at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to steal and eight counts of dangerous driving.
The other 16-year-old boy was sentenced to a nine-month supervision requirement at South London Magistrate’s court in February 26 this year for conspiracy to commit theft and handling stolen goods.
He was also subjected to a Youth Rehabilitation Order, curfew requirement and is required to pay compensation of £425.
In August a man dubbed ‘London’s most notorious phone thief’ was jailed for two years after snatching 24 phones in a single morning.
Sonny Stringer, 28, raced through the capital at speeds of up to 50mph as he snatched phones from unsuspecting bystanders on an electric scooter.
In little over an hour he and an accomplice had snatched two dozen phones worth around £20,000 before they were apprehended by police.
Phone thefts have more than doubled in some parts of London in recent years, according to new statistics from the Met.
The force says it is using various methods to tackle the issue.
Commander Owain Richards, the lead for mobile phone thefts in London, said: ‘We understand the impact of mobile phone theft can have on victims, it’s an invasive and sometimes violent crime- and we’re committed to protecting Londoners and tackling this issue as we make the capital safer.
‘We continue to use data and technology to build intelligence and track stolen items to target offenders. We are also working phone firms to ‘design out’ the ability for phones to be reused and sold on as we seek to dismantle the criminal market that fuels robbery and theft.’
The Met says it is also putting officers on patrol in areas where phone theft is rife in the hope of deterring the thieves.
In a video shared by the Metropolitan Police , the gang can be seen robbing the phones off of multiple pedestrians (Picture: Metropolitan Police)
Commander Richards encouraged anyone who has had their phone snatched to report the incident to police ‘as soon as they can’, so officers can act swiftly.
Some 78,000 people had phones or bags stolen from them on British streets in the year to March 2024.
That is a rise of more than 150% on the 31,000 ‘snatch thefts’ in the 12 months before, according to data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Figures also show that four in five police investigations were closed before a suspect was even found and just 0.8% of ‘theft from the person’ complaints resulted in a charge.
The government has pledged to crackdown on the scourge, with the Home Office saying it will work more closely with tech firms and police chiefs.