WATCH: Serial e-bike phone-snatcher nicked outside the Ned after dramatic police chase from City cops
The Square Mile's force said the criminal appeared in Court yesterday where he was found guilty of multiple charges, and will be sentenced in August.
A serial phone-snatcher has been nabbed by the City of London Police with more than 20 devices on him, following painstaking work piecing together CCTV footage.
The Square Mile’s force said the criminal appeared in Court yesterday where he was found guilty of multiple charges, and will be sentenced in August.
Sonny Stringer, 28, from Islington appeared at Isleworth Crown Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to 10 thefts, including nine detailed by the police, and 15 other phones stolen.
The police also said he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without insurance, receiving a driving ban in the process.
How did the police catch him?
He was apprehended by the City of London Police in March, as he rode through the Square Mile on an electric motorbike with an accomplice, who is unknown.
They were alerted to his whereabouts after a woman on Blackfriars Bridge had her phone stolen at 11.15am. She reported it to police, with officers using the Square Mile’s system of CCTV to track him.
Control Officer Lynn Newins of the City of London Police control room said: “I took a call from a member of the public who had witnessed a phone snatching on the south side of Blackfriars Bridge. My colleague Damon said he had the suspects on our cameras.”
“I quickly started relaying information to officers on the ground. In the control room we can manage the position of the cameras ourselves which is very useful and speeds up our ability to track criminals.”
“We spun the cameras around on Cheapside and updated officers on the phone snatchers’ path. I remember saying that they were ‘going like the clappers’ and could see members of the public having to avoid being hit by them.”
“When we saw that officers had apprehended one of the suspects it was a huge sense of achievement for all those involved.”
Zeroing in on the criminal
The Police describe how on Fetter Lane, the pair of e-bike criminals evaded a marked police car, travelling at almost 50 mph, narrowly missing collisions with pedestrians.
Road Police Officers PC Jordan Smith and PC Joe Little were tuning into their radios while tracking the assailants.
They drove towards Bank Junction, overtaking a stationary bus before turning sharply left in front of the bus to mount the pavement.
The Police said PC Smith, who is “an advanced police driver” made the decision to make initial ‘tactical contact’ on the rear wheel of Stringer’s Surron electric bike, which forced it to stop.
In dramatic CCTV and dashcam footage released by the Police today, it was revealed how Stringer was about to collide with a family pushing a buggy.
After the incident, the police manoeuvre to mount the pavement was reviewed and deemed to be proportionate.
In the footage, Stringer can be seen coming off his bike and trying to run away, before PC Little draw a taser.
At this point the assailant got on his knees, and was arrested, throwing a black bag away from him containing 22 phones.
Chief Superintendent Rob Atkin said: “The successful capture and prosecution of a prolific phone snatcher shows City of London Police’s focus on detecting and bringing to justice those who steal from people on our streets.
“This was a team effort from our control team following the criminals on CCTV and communicating with officers on the ground, to response officers making risk-critical decisions to protect the public and effect an arrest. Not forgetting our investigators tracking down victims from across London, returning valuable mobile phones and ensuring a guilty verdict.
“Phone snatching has a significant impact on victims and our key priority has been to reduce the number of phones stolen and relentlessly target those criminals responsible.”
