Nine-month sentence for ‘Schwimmer lookalike’ thief

A “LOOKALIKE” of Friends actor David Schwimmer has been jailed for nine months for theft and fraud offences.

Iranian national Abdulah Husseini (36), described in court as a “travelling, wandering, nomadic thief ”, used a stolen bank card to make or attempt to make fraudulent purchases at four shops in Blackpool last September.

He walked into an all-you-caneat buffet restaurant and swiped a wallet from a customer’s jacket while he was away from his table.

Shortly after, he began trying to use the card from the wallet and made two successful purchases at nearby stores before CCTV showed him carrying cans of beers to the till at an Iceland store, Burnley Crown Court heard.

A month later, Blackpool Police posted the captured CCTV image on its Facebook page in an appeal to trace the offender.

The post subsequently went viral as people pointed out the suspect’s likeness to Schwimmer’s character Ross Geller.

Schwimmer then posted a video to his Twitter account that showed him scurrying through a convenience store carrying a carton of beer before looking up furtively at a CCTV camera.

Husseini has 32 previous convictions for 60 offences since 2008. He has been remanded in custody since he served an 18week jail term imposed at Wimbledon Magistrates Court in January for offences of handling stolen goods, theft and possession of a knife.

Judge Sara Dodd told him he “may be released very soon” on licence after he had effectively already served half his nine-month term awaiting the trial.