Skip to main content Text Only version of this page
BBC
Home
TV
Radio
Talk
Where I Live
A-Z Index
Games
Games
Chat
Chat
Vote
Vote
Win
Win
Quiz
Quiz
Club
Club
 Homepage
 UK
 World
 Sport
 Music
 TV/Film
 Animals
 Sci/Tech
 Weather
 Pictures
 Find Out
 The Team

Contact Us
Help
Teachers





  Mobile phone thief gets four years
Updated 30 January 2002, 13.28
Prison for mobile muggers
A man who punched a teenage boy and stole his mobile phone has been jailed for four years by a judge at the Old Bailey.

It's one of the first sentences to be given out since a top judge said yesterday that phone muggers would definitely go to prison.

Will tougher sentences cut crime? Click here to vote


Lee Staples: Attack victim
Dean Healey, who's 23, from Brixton in south London, was found guilty of robbing 17-year-old Lee Staples last year.

The court heard that Healey and an accomplice punched the teenager on a street in Streatham, south London, and demanded his wallet and phone.

'More careful'

After his attacker was jailed, Lee said: "It's great it's all over. When I'm out I look over my shoulder a lot.

Fact File
Safety tips
Mark your phone to identify it
Avoid using your phone in public
Write down the IMEI number - it's different on each phone
Thieves prefer the latest models
"I can't walk off on my own. I am much more careful about where I use my mobile."

Under the new guidelines, phone muggers who use weapons or violence face five years or more in prison.

And it won't matter how old they are, or whether they've committed any crimes before.

Watch/ListenBORDER=0
Hear story!Hear story!
BORDER=0

More InfoBORDER=0
Find OutGuide to mobiles
ChatChat about mobiles
VoteVote: Will prison cut crime?
QuizMobile phone safety quiz
Club'I've had two mobiles stolen'
ClubMobiles: 'good for emergencies only'

BORDER=0

Past StoriesBORDER=0
Mobile muggers to go straight to prison
Gang attacks children for mobiles at cinema
Mobile thefts rise hits children worst
Teenage thieves target mobile phones
Children get help to beat phone crime

BORDER=0


 

Full UK Section
Also in UK now:
Work to clear crash track starts
Book features Madonna's daughter
Thousands take part in fox hunts
Scotland Northern Ireland Northern England Wales South West England Sout East England Midlands
Your Reports
Click on an area to read stories from your region
World Reports
The life of Princess Margaret Margaret: The life of a glamorous royal
Oil your brain with the daily quiz
Damilola Taylor Get the facts on Damilola
Teachers: NHS spending activity
© BBC Back to top^^
Homepage | UK | World | Sport | Music | TV/Film | Animals | Sci/Tech | Weather
Pictures | Find Out | The Team | Games | Chat | Vote | Win | Quiz | Club