Prison for pair who stole using distraction technique
ACRIMINAL from Rochdale has been banned from holding pieces of paper in shops or cafes after committing a series of cruel distraction thefts.
Alexandru Rostas, 22, joined in with a scam for one day when three victims were targeted.
Ion Anghel, 31, had targeted students and people relaxing in coffee shops in a month-long crime spree.
He would distract them by holding a piece of paper or card, and pretending to be offering a discount on food. Then he would steal their mobile phone.
The pair were both jailed earlier this month.
At a subsequent hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday, a judge imposed criminal behaviour orders on both men. When they are released from jail, both will be banned from entering commercial premises holding a piece of paper or card of A4 size.
They will also be prohibited from being in possession of a mobile phone which is not registered to them, and attempting to touch a mobile phone which doesn’t belong to them.
Both were banned from entering buildings operated by the University of Manchester or Manchester Metropolitan University.
The order lasts for four years.
Anghel struck eight times between June and July this summer, the pair’s sentencing hearing heard. One victim was an international student who felt ‘hopeless’ without her phone as she relied on it for ‘everything’.
On another occasion a motorist sitting in Starbucks had his keys stolen. When he realised the keys to his Mercedes had been taken he rushed to his car, only to see Anghel preparing to speed off in it.
He desperately tried to cling on to the car but the thief got away.
Prosecutor Harriet Lavin told how the victims were targeted in pubs, branches of Starbucks, a Mcdonald’s restaurant and cafes within the city’s studentland.
She said: “During June and July this year there were a number of incidents of phone thefts recorded at the University of Manchester. The CCTV was examined, they had a similar modus operandi.”
The crime spree came to an end on July 21 when both defendants were spotted by university security staff. Both tried to run off. Rostas escaped but Anghel was caught.
They were trying to get in the stolen Mercedes, which was then on false number plates. Rostas was apprehended days later.
Sentencing, Judge Peter Horgan said: “This was quite clearly preying upon students.”
Both men were locked up, with Anghel receiving a two year and four month prison sentence, and Rostas being locked up for 10 months.
The court heard that the immigration status of the pair, both from Romania, has yet to be decided by the Home Office.
Anghel, of Langdale Avenue, Levenshulme, pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft. Rostas, of Oldham Road, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft, allowing himself to be carried in a vehicle taken without consent, and possession of cocaine and cannabis.
Defending, Eddy Steele said Rostas came to the UK from Romania in 2006.
He said Rostas had lost his job and ‘needed money’.
Raj Chopra, for Anghel, said he also came to the country from Romania. He said Anghel’s relationship had broken down and that he turned to drink and drugs, stealing the phones to feed his habit.