A prolific thief who stole a woman’s mobile phone at King’s Cross before claiming he had bought it for £10 has been jailed following an investigation by British Transport Police. Anis Karoum, 28, of Cazenove Road, Walthamstow, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on 23 June after pleading guilty to one count of theft.
He received two months’ imprisonment for the British Transport Police offence and was also sentenced to a total of two years and eight months for separate theft and robbery offences investigated by the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police Service.
Suspicious behaviour spotted
The court heard that at around 6.30pm on Sunday, 29 March, a plain-clothes British Transport Police officer was patrolling St Pancras International station when he noticed Karoum acting suspiciously.
Officers watched as he entered a number of pubs and hotels around the station while paying close attention to people’s bags. Before he was able to enter another pub, officers stopped and searched him.
During the search, they discovered a mobile phone wrapped in tin foil – a method commonly used by thieves to block a phone’s signal and make it more difficult to track. Karoum was immediately arrested on suspicion of theft.
Victim reunited with stolen phone
While officers were waiting at the station for a police transport van, a man approached them to report that his girlfriend’s mobile phone had been stolen. Using location tracking, the couple could see the phone was still at the station.
The victim was able to confirm that the handset recovered from Karoum belonged to her after it had been stolen at King’s Cross Underground station, and officers reunited her with the device.
Linked to further offences
When questioned by officers, Karoum claimed he had purchased the phone for £10. Further enquiries linked him to a violent watch robbery outside Liverpool Street station in August 2025, as well as another theft investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
He was subsequently arrested in connection with both offences. Karoum later pleaded guilty to the theft offence investigated by British Transport Police and was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court.
British Transport Police said the case highlights the value of proactive patrols and urged passengers to remain vigilant and report suspicious behaviour to officers or by texting 61016.
