Bulwell man handed £1,200 court bill after walking off with someone else’s phone

Wayne Cameron was exercising at PureGym, in Basford, when he noticed the woman next to him had left her black iphone on a treadmill, on March 29.

Ben Paine, prosecuting, said the 37-year-old checked to see if anyone was looking then grabbed the phone and left the gym.

But the theft was recorded on CCTV and he was subsequently identified by staff. He made no comment to police when he was interviewed.

The court heard he has one previous conviction for two dissimilar offences dating back to May 2018.

Cassidy Drury, mitigating, said Cameron has the same type of phone and at first he believed it was his.

He realised his mistake when someone called the phone and he arranged to return it to them.

But she said the dad of three failed to give it back because he had "a lot going on at the time".

"He still has the phone and he is happy to give it back," said Ms Drury.

The court heard the complainant still had to pay for the phone's monthly £42 contract and forked out £649 for a replacement.

District judge Gillian Young told him she could reduce his sentence because of his prompt guilty plea.

"I am still not sure why you haven't handed it back," she told him. "I hear you buried your head in the sand and hoped it would go away. I think this was opportunistic."

She said the complainant suffered "inconvenience and stress", adding: "We all know how much of our lives are in our phone and how difficult it must be to be without it."

Cameron, of Broad Eadow Road, Bulwell, admitted the theft when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

He was fined £276 and ordered to pay compensation of £733, with a £110 surcharge and £85 court costs, leaving him owing the court £1,204.