A prolific jewellery thief who snatched nearly a quarter of a million pounds worth of valuables from London shops was caught after leaving behind his mobile phone with a selfie as a screensaver at the scene of a crime.
Mechanic
Germain Ibrahim Fofana, 27, who blew the money gambling in casinos,
received five-and-a-half years imprisonment yesterday for a total of
forty-five offences.
Police
identified the New York-native, whose father is American and his mother
from the Ivory Coast, from the 'selfie' picture on the screensaver of
the phone he left at the scene of an £18,000 jewellery theft from Ernest
Jones in Kingston-upon-Thames on May 18.
Posing
as a customer he entered the shop with a female accomplice, who had a
young child in a buggy, at 1.45pm, claiming to be looking for an
engagement ring.
He
returned alone thirty minutes later and asked to see the two original
engagement rings he viewed and a wedding ring to compare styles, running
out of the shop when the assistant handed them over.
When
police announced the manhunt Detective Sergeant Damion Cumming said: 'In
his hurry to get out of the shop, the suspect left his mobile phone on
the table alongside his bag.
'While
police were on the scene the phone lit up, having received a text
message, and a picture of the suspect was saved as the background.
'It was the shop assistant, who served him, who was able to identify the person in the picture.'
Police
used the information to tie Fofana, who lived in a modest home in
Peckham, to a string of similar offences committed all over the capital.
Yesterday
he pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to nine counts of theft and
one count of attempted theft, which included the Ernest Jones offence,
plus theft of necklaces, watches, rings and bracelets.
He
also pleaded guilty to burgling Baden Powell House hostel in
Queensgate, South Kensington on January 7; February 20 and April 10. He
stole luggage, cameras, an iPod, and an Apple Mac worth at least £1,580.
Fofana
had asked for another twenty-six similar theft offences to be taken
into consideration, plus five burglaries from London hostels and one
burglary of a hotel.
Fofana admitted to nine counts of theft and one count of attempted theft at Woolwich Crown Court (pictured)
The
total haul was worth £237,663, but when arrested Fofana only had £250
cash and a fake Omega watch on him and the court made no order regarding
costs and compensation.
'You have showed yourself to be a prolific thief,' Recorder Lionel Persey QC told him.
'The
modus operandi was that you went into a shop and asked to see items of
jewellery and would snatch the jewellery and run off.
'Your
conduct was aggressive and items were of high value and a significant
degree of pre-planning went into these thefts and were distressing to
staff members.
'I
have seen a statement from Links where staff were traumatised and
additional security training had to be put in place and it is a severely
aggravating feature that seven of the thefts were committed while you
were on bail.'
In
referernce to the burglaries, Recorder Persey added: 'You were
targeting those holidaying in London, young people staying at hostels, a
particularly nasty crime distressing to the victims.'
Fofana's
lawyer Mr. Oliver Weetch told the court: 'He's co-operated fully with
the police in going through a large number of offences and providing
information on them.
'The
offending is a result of a heavy gambling addiction and a problem with
alcohol. Like most gamblers he's lost all his money.'
An
Interpol check revealed confusion as to Fofana's conduct in France
before coming to the UK, initially suggesting he had convictions for
armed robbery, burglary and handling stolen goods then a second enquiry
stating he was of good character.
.JPG)
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