Prolific phone thief pleads guilty after stealing 24 mobiles in one morning

A prolific phone thief who stole 24 mobiles in one morning on an electric motorbike has pleaded guilty to theft.

Sonny Stringer and an accomplice sped through the streets of central London on 26 March, reaching speeds of up to 50mph as they stole phones.

The 28-year-old from Islington, north London, snatched phones from the hands of unsuspecting members of the public as they went about their day.

Appearing in Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday, Stringer received an interim driving ban and is now due to be sentenced on 8 August.

Stringer also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without insurance, City of London Police said

His string of thefts began at around 10.15am on the day near the Baker Street tube station when he grabbed a woman’s phone from her hands as she used a map application to navigate the city.

Moving towards Marble Arch, on Edgware Road, he robbed another woman around 10.30am and between then and 11am he also robbed others at Cromwell Place, Grosvenor Place, Regent Street and Orange Street.

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Many of those affected were able to recover their phones thanks to the work of police officers.

Two further thefts occurred in Westminster and Piccadilly and around 11.15am, the phone thieves stole an iPhone 15 from the hands of a woman.

Control officers were able to track the pair down, triggering a police chase.

After speeding across Blackfriars Bridge, the pair evaded a police car and rode across a pedestrian crossing, narrowly missing one member of the public as another had to run to avoid being hit.

Two police officers quickly began closing in on the pair as the phone snatchers mounted the pavement at times as they tried to escape.

One officer, PC Jordan Smith, rammed Stringer as he headed towards a pavement, where a family were pushing a buggy.

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Stringer tried to flee on foot, but PC Smith drew a taser and the criminal quickly surrendered.

He dropped a bag that contained 22 phones, and a further two had been dropped during the chase.

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Chief Superintendent Rob Atkin MBE said: “The successful capture and prosecution of a prolific phone snatcher shows City of London Police’s focus on detecting and bringing to justice those who steal from people on our streets.

“This was a team effort from our control team following the criminals on CCTV and communicating with officers on the ground, to response officers making risk-critical decisions to protect the public and effect an arrest.

“Not forgetting our investigators tracking down victims from across London, returning valuable mobile phones and ensuring a guilty verdict.

“Phone snatching has a significant impact on victims and our key priority has been to reduce the number of phones stolen and relentlessly target those criminals responsible.”

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