Gym thief’s career washed up with jail sentence

City of London Police are warning people to not use the same personal identification number (PIN) on their security devices and locks, after a prolific gym thief was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court to 27 months in prison.

Declan Murphy, 35, of Ryder Close, Bromley, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and 11 counts of fraud by false representation.

He has also been handed a Criminal Behaviour Order, banning him from entering certain gyms nationwide.

On Friday 13 September 2024, Murphy watched a man put a four-digit PIN into his locker at gym on Mark Lane. Murphy accessed the locker and guessed correctly that the locker PIN used was the same as the victim’s phone and bank card PINs.

Murphy stole the bank card and then drenched the victim’s phone rendering it unusable. The victim came back to the locker and realised that his card was missing and his phone soaked.  

Murphy’s intention was to severely damage the phone by soaking it in water, meaning the victim couldn’t access their banking app or see transaction notifications, allowing Murphy a greater window of opportunity.

The victim wasn’t able to contact their bank after noticing a missed call from them.  When he eventually was able to call his bank, he was told that Murphy had phoned the bank pretending to be him and was given internet access to the bank accounts.

After stealing the card, Murphy spent £18.20 on the card in a local shop on Byward Street near the gym and then he went on to withdraw £500 from a cash machine in Tower Hill Station.

Later the same day, Murphy attempted to purchase £5,400 worth of items from an Apple store. Thankfully, the transaction did not go through.

CCTV placed Murphy at the gym between 8:10am and 9:25am.

In his victim impact statement, the victim said the incident has left him distressed and anxious.

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Ives, head of the Criminal Investigation Department and Volume Crime Unit at the City of London Police, said:

“People who visit gyms expect their belongings to be safe in their lockers and don’t tend to expect anyone to be looking over their shoulder and stealing their PIN. Unfortunately, we know this is a method is used by prolific criminals like Murphy.

“Our message is clear, do not have the same PIN code for your locker as your phone or bank card PINs.

“I want to thank the victims on coming forward and helping us with this investigation. I also want to praise the hard work of our Criminal Investigation Department and Proactive Acquisitive Crime Team which resulted in the arrest of Murphy, who has been brought to justice.”

Murphy also committed the following offences:

• On 2 June 2024, he withdrew £1,750 of cash from a Sainsbury’s ATM on Lombard Street, using three different bank cards stolen from a victim at a health and fitness centre on Cousin Lane.
• On Saturday 4 June 2024, Murphy stole from another victim of the fitness centre. The victim said he received a notification message through his banking app that £92.06 was spent in Zara, and there was also an unsuccessful attempt to withdraw £600 in cash.
• Murphy was also found to be using membership cards under false names to gain access to health and fitness centres.

Murphy committed the theft and fraud offences at a gym on Mark Lane while he was on bail. The victim contacted the police at Bishopsgate Police Station.

When Murphy was in court on separate theft and fraud offences relating to the health and fitness centre on Cousin Lane on 24 October 2024, officers from the City of London Police’s Proactive Acquisitive Crime Team arrested him at the court.