Man stole mobile phone from ‘vulnerable lady’

Stealing a mobile phone from a ‘vulnerable lady’ has cost a man £185 and a friendship.

District Judge Peter Veits told Mason Dixon he had crossed the line when he appeared in court on Wednesday.

“It’s not a nice thing to do to a friend is it, to run off with their phone” he told the 23-year-old.

“She was kind enough to lend it to you.”

Prosecutor Turan Sunat said the victim and defendant had been friends and that this was ‘quite sad case in some respects’.

“She was a vulnerable lady who suffers from COPD and heart issues,” he continued.

“He was at her house and asked if he could borrow her Samsung phone. She said he could, but only in the house.

“He made the call and then asked if he could use it again to call his mother, but he went to the garden and didn’t come back.

“The phone has not been seen since. The victim only bought the phone in September.”

Mr Sunat added that Dixon admitted to police he took the phone and sold it, ‘but he couldn’t remember who he sold it to or for how much’.

In mitigation, Helen Coney said her client suffers from mental health issues and felt remorse for his actions.

“He admitted the offence in interview and went further by saying he wanted to make it up to the complainant,” she added.

“He wanted to make it up to her and apologise to her.”

Dixon, of no fixed abode but who gave the court a care-of address in Wyberton, pleaded guilty to theft when he appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court.

He was ordered to pay £100 in compensation and £85 in costs.