Mobile phone thieves hit Doncaster town centre

Detectives have reported a massive spike in the number of mobile phone thefts taking place in the town’s centres drinking venues. And according to officers, the majority of the 113 incidents reported in the last nine months have taken place in some of the town’s most popular nightspots – such as Kooky, Hogans and Che Bar – where opportunist thieves have managed to steal dozens of mobiles from people in busy crowds.

Police have revealed they managed to track down a pair of suspected phone thieves to a Doncaster taxi rank with the help of an app.

Inspector Lynne Lancaster, of the Doncaster central area, praised apps such as Track My Phone as ‘extremely useful resources’ after officers using it were able to trace three thieves, believed to have stolen several phones

over the course of one evening, to a nearby taxi rank.

The incident occurred in the early hours of December 13, when 20 phones were stolen from revellers at the Kooky bar on Silver Street.

“We had a female who came out of Kooky to report to officers that her phone had been stolen,” Insp Lancaster told The Star.

“Her boyfriend was tracking it on his phone.

“This was at 3.30am and within minutes police had detained two males in possession of three stolen mobile phones.

“These individuals are currently on police bail but really it demonstrates the benefit of using a tracking app as well as needing to be mindful of securing possessions when in crowded spaces.

“This isn’t a comment on the clubs who do everything they can to prevent phone thefts with security guards, cameras and television screens warning of thefts – it’s just that these are the places everyone wants to go to which is why they’re being targeted.”

Insp Lancaster also urged people to do what they can to try to minimise the impact of phone thefts by registering their phones on the Immobilise database, which is checked by shops such as CEX and Cash Converters, every time a phone for sale is brought in.

* To report a theft call police on 101. Alternatively call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.