Police phone thief punishment: write anonymous apology to Argus (From The Argus)
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Police phone thief punishment: write anonymous apology to Argus
11:00am Wednesday 24th October 2012 in News By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter
Two women who stole a police-owned phone from a packed nightclub have written personally to Argus readers to express their remorse at their “stupid mistake”.
Sussex Police arrested the women aged 23 and 24 after they picked up the bait phone from Oceana in Brighton.
The phone was planted there as part of the force’s Operation Tea Leaf, highlighting the high number of thefts from bars, clubs and restaurants in the city.
In September 196 phones were taken from the city centre. The women, who have not been named, were arrested on suspicion of theft following the August offence.
But having considered the circumstances police said rather than face the courts, the pair could write a letter which would be published in The Argus.
The letter is written directly by the women. It says: “We were in Oceana with a group of friends having a good night.
“We saw a mobile phone on the table and stupidly picked it up and put it in our bag.
“Within minutes we were easily caught by plain-clothed police officers, taken out the back, handcuffed and searched where the police found the phone we put in our bag.
“It all happened so quickly and it was a stupid mistake. We never should have done it as it could have ruined our lives and jeopardised any future jobs for us.
“We are truly sorry for wasting police time and we will never do anything like this again.”
Inspector Gareth Davies said: “This is not going soft on offenders and Operation Tea Leaf in particular has resulted in many arrests and prosecutions.
“In all busy public places, particularly a cosmopolitan place like Brighton and Hove, there are often problems with thefts from the person.
"The majority of these take place in bars and clubs, and also in restaurants and hotels. More than half of the thefts are of mobile phones.”
Comments(18)
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
11:31am Wed 24 Oct 12
How about they re-pay the police costs of the exercise because while coppers are messing about in nightclubs helping fight crime where people are bloody careless with their personal belongings, the general population is failing to get real crime managed.
GIVE UP
says...
11:44am Wed 24 Oct 12
Isaac Rinkfern
says...
12:11pm Wed 24 Oct 12
Having previously reunited several hundred pounds with it's owners through handing in at the police station rather than giving it to someone who I cannot be 100% sure is responsible and honest, I will now have to reconsider even picking up an item if I am to be viewed as a thief for ensuring a guaranteed return to it's true owner.
JesterFeckwit
says...
12:32pm Wed 24 Oct 12
For plenty of other crimes it seems that you only have to be a suspect to be named and shamed (and in some cases judged as well) by society and the media, these two were caught red handed and released without charge or penalty.
What kind of message does this send to other thieves?
ajpj
says...
12:39pm Wed 24 Oct 12
bogs
says...
2:36pm Wed 24 Oct 12
mimseycal
says...
2:53pm Wed 24 Oct 12
This new election of a Police and Crime Commissioner won't do much towards altering that for the better either sadly.
Hovelady
says...
3:37pm Wed 24 Oct 12
It's simply entrapment.
I found a mobile phone in a club but rather than hand it in to, er, possibly untrustworthy bar staff, I took it home, called 'mum', and made arrangements to get the phone to it's owner the next day - she was very very happy! I doubt she would have got her phone back had I handed it in at the club.
Had that phone been a "bait" phone, I would now be labelled a thief!
I too, like Isaac Rinkfern, will think very carefully now before picking up a lost item and trying to get it back to it's owner..
JesterFeckwit
says...
4:51pm Wed 24 Oct 12
Why would these two agree to apologise publicly if they had planned to hand the phone in?
I suspect that anyone nabbed by the boys in blue for picking up something which they honestly planned to hand in later would strenuously protest their innocence and I'm pretty sure the officers involved would be able to tell from their reactions what their motivations really were.
They clearly meant to steal it and they should be punished for their actions.
This isn't going to stop me from trying to return lost items to their rightful owners.
BTW: There's a great new service for helping people to do this:
http://belon.gs/
I'm nothing to do with this business but I am a user and a fan.
AmboGuy
says...
6:13pm Wed 24 Oct 12
Hovelady wrote:Entrapment! Brilliant. Yeah so you took it home and arranged for them to pick it up? What bizarre behaviour, sounds like you just had a change of heart to me.
What a waste of police resources...is there really not enough crime in Brighton that the police have to create their own?
It's simply entrapment.
I found a mobile phone in a club but rather than hand it in to, er, possibly untrustworthy bar staff, I took it home, called 'mum', and made arrangements to get the phone to it's owner the next day - she was very very happy! I doubt she would have got her phone back had I handed it in at the club.
Had that phone been a "bait" phone, I would now be labelled a thief!
I too, like Isaac Rinkfern, will think very carefully now before picking up a lost item and trying to get it back to it's owner..
Isaac Rinkfern
says...
8:00pm Wed 24 Oct 12
I'm not making any assumptions as to the intentions of the individuals concerned in this story, merely stating that my initial thought on seeing an unattended item lying around would never usually be that it was anything other than lost and attempt to find the owner in the safest and most secure way.
If there are police opperations that leaving valuable items lying around and grabbing people who pick them up, then I will have to reconsider my usual actions and just leave lost property where I see it.
Shame really, I enjoy receiving the thank you cards that I usually have forwarded on by the police station, and a couple of times I have even been sent a little present for being a good person.
Hovelady
says...
8:48pm Wed 24 Oct 12
er, how is finding something and returning it to the owner bizarre behaviour exactly?? I simply don't trust clubs, pubs, bars etc to look after lost property so handed it to the girl myself - job done, everyone happy.
and do you seriously think that policemen bopping around a club waiting for someone to pick up a "lost" phone is good, worthwhile policing?
they create the crime, and immediately catch the perpetrator, nice - must be good for their solved crime statistics
..and I suppose it's a lot easier, and safer, than actually being on the street to catch the violent, knife-wielding mobile phone snatchers isn't it?
Hovelady
says...
9:15pm Wed 24 Oct 12
JesterFeckwit wrote:Jester, I would have strenuously protested my innocence in the same situation as these two girls because I TRULY did have every intention to return the phone (and did) - I am not a thief.
@Issac & Hovelady.
Why would these two agree to apologise publicly if they had planned to hand the phone in?
I suspect that anyone nabbed by the boys in blue for picking up something which they honestly planned to hand in later would strenuously protest their innocence and I'm pretty sure the officers involved would be able to tell from their reactions what their motivations really were.
They clearly meant to steal it and they should be punished for their actions.
This isn't going to stop me from trying to return lost items to their rightful owners.
BTW: There's a great new service for helping people to do this:
http://belon.gs/
I'm nothing to do with this business but I am a user and a fan.
But at the end of the day, only they know what their intentions were, and I'm not sure how well I would do in court with only what I know to be true as my evidence - I can't prove my intent - but then neither can the police - so I'd probably opt for the public letter rather than risk my life being blighted (unjustly) with a criminal record..
JesterFeckwit
says...
11:07am Thu 25 Oct 12
Maybe this is the reason for the leniency - the operation is ongoing and the authorities don't want draw too much attention to this incident.
Even if this is the case I still think it sends the wrong message.
ajpj
says...
12:25pm Thu 25 Oct 12
D360
says...
6:15pm Thu 25 Oct 12
JesterFeckwit wrote:Finally, someone gets it
Perhaps the team running this operation were actually trying to bait a known organised crime group and these girls just happened to steal the phone before the targets did.
Maybe this is the reason for the leniency - the operation is ongoing and the authorities don't want draw too much attention to this incident.
Even if this is the case I still think it sends the wrong message.
Hovelady
says...
11:55am Fri 26 Oct 12
I have a feeling any organised crime group may be on to it by now...
Dandyli0n says...
11:26am Wed 24 Oct 12