Thief is snared by selfie she left on stolen phone
A WOMAN who stole from a Good Samaritan nurse was arrested after she dumped her victim’s mobile phone – unaware she had taken a selfie on it.
Toni Flynn, 34, took Selina Sonola’s handbag after the nurse stopped her car to help Flynn’s boyfriend, who was pretending to be seriously ill.
But mother-of-one Flynn mistakenly photographed herself as she tried to operate the victim’s phone.
It was handed to police after Flynn threw it away and they spotted her picture.
Flynn was spared jail at Manchester Crown Court this week, while boyfriend Thomas Farrell on the run.
The court heard how Miss Sonola, 35, stopped her car in rush-hour traffic in Beswick, Manchester, to help Farrell, who was standing in the road clutching his chest.
He then yanked open the passenger door of his car and grabbed Miss Sonola’s handbag containing the phone. Flynn slammed the door shut and the duo fled.
Later, when Miss Sonola rang her mobile to plead for the return of her bag, Farrell answered and said: “How much is this bag worth?” is When the mental health nurse said she had spoken to the police, Farrell bragged: “The police are always looking for me.”
The phone was later found next to a vandalised Vauxhall Astra, one of two vehicles smashed up by Flynn and Farrell on the housing estate where they lived in Beswick.
Flynn admitted theft, criminal damage and affray but escaped with a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
She also has to complete a six-month drug rehabilitation programme.
A warrant has Farrell’s arrest. been issued for