A professional phone thief who targeted shoppers on escalators and revellers in gay bars has been jailed for 14 months.
Abderahmen Berouaken, 24, used sleight of hand to steal mobile phones from people laden down with shopping bags.
The pickpocket also befriended people in gay bars so he could get close to them on dance floors to grab their phones without them noticing.
Berouaken repeatedly targeted people in Birmingham in 2023 but was finally caught on April 4 this year.
Abderahmen Berouaken has been sentenced to 14 months after pleading guilty at Birmingham Crown Court
Berouaken is caught on CCTV attempting to steal a mobile phone from a woman’s pocket in a Birmingham department store
The woman pushed Berouaken away when she realised he was attempting to steal her phone. She then told security guards who alerted PC Mat Evans, from West Midlands Police anti-pickpocket team
Eagle-eyed security staff in a Birmingham department store spotted him targeting a family with children.
As he lifted a mobile phone from a woman’s pocket, she realised what was happening and knocked the device to the floor.
Berouaken ran away but the woman told security guards who alerted PC Mat Evans, from West Midlands Police anti-pickpocket team.
The thief was caught in a nearby shop just minutes later.
Berouaken, of no fixed address, admitted eight thefts and was jailed for 14 months when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.
The court heard he also targeted bars in Hurst Street, in Birmingham’s gay village.
CCTV shows him dancing with several men and while one puts his arm around him, Berouaken slips his hand into his back pocket to steal his phone.
The court heard he used the same sly method to steal several phones in one night.
He was arrested by PC Evans, from the force’s Op Willowvale team specialising in cracking down on professional pickpocket gangs.
CCTV shows Berouaken slipping his hand in the back pocket of a bar goer on Hurst Street in Birmingham’s gay village
The pickpocket used sly techniques to steal phones on escalators and gay bars
He was also caught on CCTV stealing from shoppers on an escalator in Birmingham
He said: ‘It was satisfying to catch Berouaken as he had been preying on the people of Birmingham for quite some time and clearly thought he wouldn’t get caught.
‘Pickpocketing is not a petty crime as some may think, as not only are phones expensive to replace, they are essential to most people’s day to day lives, and the impact of knowing you were selected and targeted in the way pickpockets do, can really shake people’s confidence.
‘In this case we had victims who lost thousands of pounds through lost business because their phone was taken, and have been left feeling insecure and less trusting of people around them when they go out.
‘I encourage everyone to look at the CCTV of how these callous thieves operate, and be on the lookout for the tricks and tactics pickpockets use, so they can protect themselves and their property when they are out and about.’
