‘Fagin’ uses a boy to steal phone at shop
A THIEF used a small child to do his dirty work for him in a mobile phone robbery.
The theft, like something from a modern-day Oliver Twist story, happened in a candle shop.
Police have released CCTV footage of the young boy being used by a Faginlike character to steal a Samsung Galaxy phone.
The clip shows the boy, about five years old, and a man at the shop in Bromley, south-east London.
In the footage, a man is seen standing by the till of The Candle Shop in The Glades shopping centre at 4.50pm on Aug 30 and distracting an assistant by pretending to want a candle.
He moves from side to side as the boy goes behind the counter, steals the phone and tries to open the till.
The boy and the man are then seen leaving the shop with the phone, a Samsung Galaxy S7. PC Ben Briselden, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “We are keen to identify the man in the CCTV footage who appears to use the child in their care to steal from those working in a candle shop. We would also urge anyone who witnessed the incident to contact us.”
The man is described as large and in his mid-30s, 5ft 7in tall, with short brown hair and a beard.
He was wearing a brown hat, brown jacket, blue jeans and black shoes.
The boy has short brown hair and was wearing a blue coat and dark trousers.
A spokesman for the Met added: “No arrests have been made and inquiries continue.”