Romanian thief stole 22 phones from unsuspecting fans at pop concert

Ionut Tudorache was part of a gang that targeted fans at a performance by Kasabian, stealing their phones as they danced.

The 25-year-old wore a pair of tights under his jeans which acted as a net to hold the devices.

Tudorache had just travelled from London when he was caught at the Bournemouth International Centre in Dorset after he aroused the suspicions of the venue’s security team who stopped and searched him.

Staff were on red alert after similar incidents at previous events there, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

Stuart Ellacott, prosecuting, said: “The defendant drew the attention of the security guards by not making eye contact.

“He was stopped and searched and the mobile phones were found in a pair of tights he was wearing underneath his trousers.”

Nicholas Robinson, defending, told the court that Tudorache, a qualified electromechanical engineer, had not taken the phones himself.

Mr Robinson said that Tudorache was recruited by two Romanians on his arrival in London and travelled with them to Bournemouth.

He had not known what he was getting into until the men started putting the phones down his tights on November 25 last year.

“My client was not the pickpocket who actually stole the phones,” Mr Robinson said.

“He came here hoping for a better life.

"He was told to wear tights because it would be cold on the South Coast.”

Tudorache, of no fixed abode, admitted 22 counts of theft.

Jailing him for nine months, Judge John Harrow said: “You had been in this country a matter of days before you broke the law.

"You must have known you were being dishonest.”

It was the latest in a spate of thefts by gangs at concerts of bands including Oasis, Kings of Leon and the Sugababes at the Bournemouth venue.

General manager Steve Turner said: “This prosecution sends out a clear message that we do not tolerate theft.”