“Keep it out of sight”, smartphone theft victim warns

“Keep it out of sight”. That is the advice from a businessman who had his iPhone 4 stolen from in front of him in a coffee shop on High Holborn earlier this year.

Now, after City officers recovered his phone and the men who stole it have been convicted, Simon Evans is speaking out to help others keep their belongings safe.

He said: “I was sitting at the bench by the window reading the paper. I’d just finished a phone call and put the phone down next to me.

“The next thing I knew this guy appeared across my right shoulder, he held a newspaper, pointing at something. I looked at the newspaper and the strange thing about it was it was upside down. He was saying something indecipherable in my ear.

“Then, another man appeared over my left shoulder, asking for directions, but I couldn’t understand him either.

“I said ‘go away’. The next thing I knew, the first guy had gone out the door.

“I looked down where my phone was and it was gone.

“I now know he put the newspaper over my phone to steal it.

“If it hadn’t been seen on the counter I think these guys would have walked straight past. Instead they saw it and decided they’ll have a go at this one.”

Simon followed the thieves out of the coffee shop and confronted them on the street but to no avail. 

On returning to the coffee shop, its manager had reported the theft to City of London Police, and officers arrived shortly after. Simon provided them with a description of the thieves, which, in turn, they broadcast to other officers in the area.

Moments later the policeman taking Simon’s statement heard on his radio that officers had stopped suspects at Temple underground station.

Simon said: “I was told one of the men who’d been stopped had an iPhone in his pocket, so the officer taking my statement asked me for my number so he could phone it and obviously, it rang.

“It was great. Within an hour I had my phone back, I couldn’t believe it!”

The officers who identified the suspects were part of a policing team dedicated to reducing thefts of handbags, laptops, mobile phones and wallets in the City following a rise in thefts since April.

Two men arrested on suspicion of theft were later charged. On appearing at City of London Magistrates’ Court, Maradonna Constantin, 21, and Stefan Mitae,18, both from Ilford, were convicted of the theft and both received a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months. Constantin was also ordered to undertake 60 hours unpaid work while Mitae must carry out 100 hours.