A London woman convicted of four previous thefts has been jailed for 10 weeks after police found her in possession of a £750 stolen phone.
Parashkeva Ilevia, 27, of Enfield, was arrested on Cheapside, near Bank Tube station, by City of London Police Proactive Crime Team officers on February 13.
The officers had been on patrol around Cheapside in response to “numerous” thefts and pickpocket offences in recent weeks.
She was spotted with another woman and their behaviour “caught the officers’ attention” so a search was carried out.
“Ilevia was found in possession of a phone that had been stolen from a victim just hours before,” the force said on Thursday.
The phone, thought to be worth £750, was then returned to the victim.
IIevia was sentenced to 10 weeks imprisonment after being found guilty of handling stolen goods at London Magistrates’ Court.
Acting Inspector, Dan Green, City of London Police, said: “A custodial sentence is a great result for our Proactive Crime Team, who through intelligence lead patrols, apprehended a woman who was targeting future victims and had one stolen mobile in her possession.”
“Do not come to the City and think you can steal from residents, workers or visitors without paying the penalty. Our targeted patrols, excellent police work and extensive CCTV will mean you will be caught and brought to justice.”
Ilevia had four previous convictions for theft and one caution for offences elsewhere in London.
Her arrest comes as London grapples with a phone theft epidemic.
In April it was revealed that a mobile phone is reported stolen in the city every six minutes.
A staggering 90,864 phones - equating to almost 250 a day - were stolen across the capital last year, according to stats provided to the BBC by police.
Westminster is London’s phone theft hotspot, with 25,899 mobiles stolen there in 2022 - almost 30 per cent of the total stolen across the capital.
In response to the shocking statistics, Policing Minister Chris Philp said he was “deeply concerned by those figures”.
Asked by LBC whether there is currently enough follow-up by police on these crimes, the Croydon South MP added: “I think there is more we can do.
“One of the reasons why I was keen to sort out these problems with the bureaucracy, and the form filling, and to lift that burden off policing, is to free up time to spend on follow-up.” He also pointed to the Government’s police officer recruitment drive.
