Stratford thief caught with mobile phones under trousers
Friday, September 21, 2012
5:00 PM
A Newham man was caught with 20 stolen mobile phones hidden in a pair of tights he was wearing under his trousers after a tracking device helped police catch him.
Officers were called to a fast-food restaurant where they rang the number of one of the phones, stolen from a music festival, to identify the thief.
Ionut Guita, 23, was arrested and charged in connection with a spate of phone thefts at the Sundown Festival at the Norfolk Showground in Costessey.
Police revealed they were called on Sunday, September 2 after a young woman reported her iPhone stolen.
The victim, along with her friend, was able to use a tracking application to trace the phone. The signal led them to a nearby McDonald’s where she contacted police.
Officers entered the restaurant and dialled the number of the stolen phone, which began to ring.
Guita was searched and found with 20 mobile phones in tights he was wearing under his trousers.
Guita, from Stratford, was arrested and later charged with 20 counts of theft.
He appeared at Norwich Magistrates’ Court where he admitted all the theft charges and also admitted committing offences while subject to a suspended sentence order.
Guita has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced at Norwich Crown Court at a later date.
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