iPhone thief who took £2,400 from student's account gets a caution

A Leicester man found a young woman's phone and ID and managed to transfer thousands of pounds after using her date of birth to unlock the phone. The 20-year-old, who has not been named, transferred about £2,452 out of the student's account, leaving her with just 17p.

The incident happened in Nottingham city centre after the woman had been out at a nightclub in February. The Nottinghamshire force, after tracking down the man, gave him a caution after he offered to pay the woman £1,000 and apologise. She was also fully reimbursed by her bank.

Nottinghamshire Police said in a statement the woman had been in the city with the phone in her back pocket but later in the night noticed it was missing. The statement said: "When she checked her bank balances, £2,452 had been transferred out of her accounts – leaving her with just 17p.

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"A police investigation spanning several months led to the arrest of a 20-year-old man from Leicester. Following the arrest, the suspect admitted finding the student’s phone inside a nightclub along with her student ID, which included her date of birth.

"To unlock the iPhone, he told officers he tried entering the date of birth as the passcode and it worked. He then admitted accessing the student’s mobile banking app and transferring £2,452 out of her accounts – which he said he then used to pay his own rent bills and university fees.

"He told officers he was deeply sorry and that he committed the crime because he was struggling financially. Officers updated the victim, who had been reimbursed by her banks.

"The thief offered to pay her £1,000 compensation and to apologise for the distress he had caused her following the incident in February. The victim accepted this offer and so the thief – who had no previous convictions – received a conditional caution, in which he must comply with actions set out by Nottinghamshire Police’s Out of Court Disposal Team."

The conditions include paying the £1,000 compensation in full and, if he fails to comply with the conditions, he could end up in court, which would likely lead to a fine, as well as a criminal record.

People are being urged to use strong passwords to prevent similar things happening to them.

Pc Ryan Prince, who led the investigation, said: “This was a distressing ordeal for the victim and I am pleased we were able to locate and arrest the person responsible. He has expressed deep remorse for his actions and I am pleased he has apologised to his victim and agreed to pay her compensation.

“This was the first time this young offender has been arrested and experienced custody. He didn’t like it and whether it happens again is now entirely up to him. Certainly this case shows that if you do commit an offence we will do everything in our power to find you.

"Finally, I would encourage people to make it difficult for criminals to steal your belongings by making sure your possessions are secure at all times. It is also important to ensure your devices are protected with strong passwords or passcodes in case they do end up in the wrong hands.”