Thief who stole 24 phones in one morning jailed for two years

A prolific phone snatcher who used an electric motorbike to steal from members of the public on the streets of London has been jailed for two years, City of London Police said.

Sonny Stringer, 28, from Islington, stole 24 phones on the morning of March 26 before evading police by riding at speeds of nearly 50mph.

Officers used the city’s camera network to catch him.

Stringer was about to mount a pavement in the direction of a family pushing a buggy when officers made contact with the rear wheel of his bike.

He was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday to 20 months concurrent for each of the theft charges and an additional four months for dangerous driving, according to the force.

Stringer and an unknown accomplice rode into the city at speed before snatching an iPhone 15 from a woman’s hand on Blackfriars Bridge.

At one point the pair narrowly avoided crashing into a member of the public as they cut across a pedestrian crossing while evading police.

Stringer eventually came off the bike and tried to run away but was arrested.

His bag was found to contain 22 phones, with two having been dropped when police struck his bike.

Chief Superintendent William Duffy said: “Phone snatching has a significant impact on victims and it is right that Stringer received a custodial sentencing for snatching mobiles on London’s streets.

“We’d urge people to be aware of their surroundings when using their mobile phones on the street. Limit the opportunities for criminals to target you by reducing the number of times you have your phones out while in the street.”

Control officer Lynn Newins said: “In the control room we can manage the position of the cameras ourselves, which is very useful and speeds up our ability to track criminals.

“We spun the cameras around on Cheapside and updated officers on the phone snatchers’ path.

“I remember saying that they were ‘going like the clappers’ and could see members of the public having to avoid being hit by them.

“I sadly speak to lots of victims of phone snatchers and the loss of their phone is devastating to them. People have their worlds on their phones and it isn’t a minor crime to them.”