Major transport routes across Barnet are being targeted by police in an attempt to tackle the ever-increasing numbers of mobile phone thefts.
Tally Ho corner in North Finchley and the Golders Green bus and Tube interchange are hotspots for mobile phone thefts, which account for the majority of street robberies according to Barnet Police.
At Barnet Youth Court last Friday, a 16-year-old Tottenham girl received an 18-month supervision order and was fined £110 for her part in a mobile phone robbery on the 102 bus in East Finchley. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, boarded the bus with two friends in February this year and surrounded another girl and her friend, demanding to see her phone.
The girl handed her phone over to the group, and was then ordered off the bus with her friend.
Detective Inspector Alun Goode said there had been an increase of such crimes in the past year.
"We do regard it as serious, even though some people consider it as bullying if it is a couple of youngsters taking a mobile phone off a 16-year-old. The fact is that it is robbery."
He advised phone owners to note the handset's identification number.
August 15, 2001 17:35
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