Thief jailed after claiming to have purchased stolen phone for £10 – London

A man who stole a phone at King’s Cross station before claiming to officers he'd bought it for £10 has been jailed, following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

Anis Karoum, 28, and of Cazenove Road, Walthamstow, was sentenced on 23 June at Inner London Crown Court to two months’ imprisonment having pleaded guilty to one count of Theft an earlier hearing.

He was further sentenced to a total of two years and eight months for other theft and robbery incidents committed in London on the jurisdiction of both the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police Service.

The court heard how, on Sunday 29 March at around 6.30pm, a BTP officer in plain clothes was on patrol when he noticed Karoum acting suspiciously inside St Pancras railway station.

He noticed him entering different pubs and hotels around the station while paying close attention to people's bags. As he tried to enter a pub, Karoum was stopped by police and searched.

On his person they found a mobile phone wrapped in tin foil, a technique used by criminals to try and stifle the signal from the stolen phones, and he was promptly arrested on suspicion of Theft.

While officers waited at the station for a police van to escort Karoum to custody, they were approached by a man who stated his girlfriend's phone had gone missing, but that her phone was showing up as being at the station.

She was able to confirm that the stolen phone was hers having been taken in Kings Cross Underground station, and officers were able to reunite her with her device.

Once in custody, Karoum was linked to a violent watch robbery he had committed outside Liverpool Street station in August 2025 as well as a theft he had committed on Metropolitan Police Service jurisdiction, and he was subsequently arrested for both.

BTP Constable Steven Bryan said: "Karoum was stopped and prevented from stealing any further after his suspicious behaviour was noticed, and we were able to act quickly to ensure the speedy return of the victim's property.

"Our teams patrol railway stations and trains across the country every day to keep the travelling public safe and stop thieves in their tracks.

"If you spot a thief on the railway, text 61016 so we can ensure offenders like Karoum are punished for their crimes.”